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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  LIBRARY  AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


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POSTHUMOUS  WORKS 


OP  THE 


REV.  THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


EDITED  BY  THE 

KEY,  WILLIAM  HANNA,  LL.D. 


VOL.  VI. 


NEW  fORK: 

HARPER  & BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 
329  <fc  331  PEARL  STREET, 

FRANKLIN  SQUARE. 


1860. 


J .i<’’  Vi?  ! 

' ' : 'i 


SERMONS 


BY  THE  LATE 

THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.D.,  LLJ). 


ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  DIFFERENT  STAGES  IN  HIS  MINISTRY. 


1798-1847. 


NEW  YORK: 

HARPER  & BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 
329  & 331  PEARL  STREET, 

FRANKLIN  SQUARE. 


I860. 


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PREFACE. 

Dr.  Chalmers  was  licensed  as  a preacher  of  the 
gospel  by  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  on  the  31st 
July,  1799.  In  December,  1801,  he  became  assistant  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Elliot,  minister  of  Cavers,  a parish  lying 
along  the  banks  of  the  Teviot,  a few  miles  from  Hawick. 
As  Mr.  Elliot  was  laid  aside  by  his  infirmities,  the  pulpit 
duties  devolved  wholly  upon  his  assistant,  after  a regulai 
discharge  of  which  for  a period  of  about  nine  months, 
Dr.  Chalmers  left  Cavers  in  September,  1802.  He  was 
ordained  as  minister  of  the  parish  of  Kilmany,  in  Fife- 
shire,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1803 ; and  twelve  of  the  most 
important  and  most  fruitful  years  of  his  life  were  spent 
in  this  peaceful  retreat.  In  the  autumn  of  1815,  he  was 
removed  to  Glasgow,  in  which  city  eight  years  of  inces- 
sant but  triumphant  toil  were  devoted  to  all  the  different 
kinds  of  ministerial  labor.  In  November,  1823,  he  final- 
ly resigned  the  pulpit  for  the  professor’s  chair.  He  was 
twenty-three  years  of  age  at  the  date  of  his  ordination, 
and  forty-three  when  he  gave  up  his  charge — his  minis- 
try as  an  ordained  clergyman  covering  thus  the  space  of 
twenty  years. 

From  the  large  mass  of  his  pulpit  preparations  Dr. 
Chalmers  had  already  selected  those  discourses  which 
seemed  to  him  the  worthiest  of  being  published — the 
likeliest  by  their  publication  to  do  good.  Out  of  the  re- 
mainder it  might  have  been  perilous — it  would  perhaps 
have  been  improper — to  have  selected  so  many  as  thirty* 
three  new  sermons,  and  to  have  presented  them  as  of 


694501 


PREFACE. 


d 

equal  or  kindred  merit  with  those  already  issued  through 
the  press.  It  occurred  to  me,  however,  in  reading  over 
this  class  of  his  manuscripts,  that  without  injury  done  to 
his  usefulness  or  reputation  as  a preacher,  a two-fold — a 
literary  as  well  as  a religious — object  might  be  attained 
by  the  publication  of  a series  of  them  arranged  in  chrono- 
logical order. 

It  was  as  a preacher  that  Dr.  Chalmers  first  reached 
celebrity.  His  earlier  authorship  had  failed  to  make  any 
deep  impression  on  the  public  mind.  His  Treatise  on  the 
“ Evidences  of  Christianity”  had  begun  to  attract  atten- 
tion, and  would  finally  have  secured  to  him  a high  place 
among  the  defenders  of  the  Christian  faith ; but  it  was 
the  publication  of  his  “ Astronomical  Discourses”  which  at 
once  raised  him  to  a pinnacle  of  higher  eminence,  gave  to 
him  a larger  audience,  and  won  for  him  a larger  influence 
than  it  had  been  the  lot  of  any  Scottish  minister  from  the 
days  of  the  Reformation  to  enjoy.  In  these  discourses, 
whose  eloquence  filled  all  eyes  with  its  dazzling  splendor, 
and  opened  all  lips  to  praise,  an  idiomatic  peculiarity  of 
phraseology  was  at  once  observable.  Under  this  new 
employer  of  it,  our  language  took  new  forms,  and  showed 
itself  capable  of  rendering  new  services  ; and  while  critics 
said  of  this  new  way  of  wielding  words  that  it  was 
neither  strictly  accurate  nor  classically  elegant,  it  was 
universally  felt  and  confessed  that  by  an  easy  use  and 
mastery  of  words  and  phrases  which  in  other  hands  had 
been  unmanageable,  Dr.  Chalmers  possessed  a rare,  an 
unequaled  power  of  setting  forth  his  ideas  in  a multitude 
of  changing  phases,  varying  in  a thousand  ways  the  form 
of  their  presentation,  not  only  without  any  injury  to,  but 
with  positive  and  large  enhancement  of  effect.  There 
was  an  interminable  but  unwearying  variety — a volu- 


PREFACE. 


vii 


minous  amplitude  which  yet  never  passed  into  the  turgid 
— the  life-blood  of  a quick  intelligence  or  a most  fervid 
emotion  “ circulating  vitality  to  the  last  extremities  of 
expression — to  the  minutest  ramifications  of  phrase.” 

But  this  style  of  writing,  how  came  it  to  be  adopted 
and  employed  ? Had  it  an  infancy,  a growth  ? And  if 
so,  what  was  its  earliest,  its  infant  condition — and  how 
rose  it  to  such  a stately  muturity  ? This  volume  is  pre- 
sented as  a help  to  him  who  would  prosecute  such  inqui- 
ries. It  furnishes  him  with  the  means  of  tracing  up 
very  nearly  to  its  fountain-head,  that  full  flowing  river 
whose  many-waved  bosom  has  borne  so  many  thousands 
so  triumphantly  along.  He  does  not  indeed  here  see 
that  stream  rolling  at  its  largest  breadth  and  with  its 
fullest  volume — for  that  it  is  to  the  Astronomical,  or 
some  other  of  the  already  published  discourses,  that  he 
must  look.  Nor  does  he  see  it,  as  within  narrower  banks 
but  with  waters  purer,  deeper,  stillier — with  more  of 
heaven’s  own  pure  light  upon  them,  it  ran  on  when  near 
its  close — for  that  it  is  to  the  Horce  Sabbaticce  that  he 
must  look — but  we  raise  him  here  to  a stand-point  whence 
he  can  see  it  through  a longer  period  of  its  course,  and 
trace  it  through  more  of  its  variations  than  previously 
lay  open  to  his  eye. 

It  is  mainly,  however,  with  a hope  that,  in  the  form 
given  to  it,  this  volume  may  serve  as  a contribution  to 
the  religious  biography  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  that  it  is  put 
into  the  reader’s  hands.  Before  him  here,  and  within 
comparatively  narrow  compass,  he  has  a series  of  com- 
positions between  the  date  of  the  first  and  the  last  of 
which  an  interval  of  very  nearly  half  a century  occurs. 
Had  the  topics  treated  of  in  these  writings  belonged  even 
to  any  branch  of  a purely  speculative  philosophy,  it 


yiii 


PREFACE. 


would  have  interested  us  to  follow,  through  so  long  a line 
of  progress,  the  advancing  footsteps  of  an  intellect  gifted 
with  such  superior  power,  and  urged  on  by  so  simple  and 
so  strong  love  of  truth  ; and  that  interest  would  have  been 
quickened  into  a heightened  intensity  had  we  been  in- 
formed beforehand  that,  at  a certain  stage  in  his  progress 
a singular  revolution  had  taken  place  in  the  opinions  and 
sentiments  of  the  inquirer.  But  the  topics  dwelt  upon 
throughout  this  volume — God,  and  the  revelations  He 
has  made  of  Himself  to  man,  man  and  his  awful  relation- 
ships with  God  and  eternity — are  no  matters  of  mere 
barren  speculation.  According  to  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  approached  and  dealt  with  by  each  of  us  they 
affect,  closely  and  influentially,  our  state  and  character 
here,  our  prospects  for  eternity.  It  was  in  this  light 
they  were  looked  upon  by  the  departed  author  of  these 
writings.  It  is  generally  known  that  some  years  after 
his  settlement  at  Kilmany,  a revolution  happened  which 
altered  the  whole  spirit,  course,  and  object  of  his  life  and 
ministry.  He  himself  believed,  that  upon  the  change 
which  then  took  place  his  own  salvation  hinged.  He 
believed  that  had  that  change  not  been  realized,  he 
should  have  stood  at  last  hopelessly  condemned  at  that 
tribunal  before  which  he  has  now  appeared.  Although 
before  that  change  his  faith  in  the  divine  origin  of 
Christianity  was  intelligent  and  entire — though  all  the 
doctrines  which  our  standards  teach  were  fully  and  un- 
equivocally admitted  by  him — though  as  to  all  the  external 
proprieties  of  professional  conduct,  and  many  of  the  most 
attractive  virtues  of  social  life,  he  might  have  challenged 
a comparison  with  the  great  majority  of  the  men  among 
whom  he  lived, — yet  was  it  his  conviction  that  the  faith 
which  bringeth  salvation  had  not  till  then  been  formed— 


PREFACE. 


IX 


the  true  and  only  ground  of  a sinner’s  acceptance  with 
God  had  not  been  occupied  and  rested  on — the  true  and 
only  preparation  for  the  services  and  joys  of  a holy  and 
blissful  immortality  had  not  commenced. 

The  history  of  a revolution  upon  which,  according 
to  the  estimate  of  him  who  passed  through  it,  his  per- 
sonal salvation  hung,  must  necessarily  have  an  exceeding 
interest  to  all  who  agree  in  the  conclusions  to  which 
that  revolution  conducted  him.  But  should  it.  not  also 
awaken  the  curiosity  of  those  who,  in  the  absence  of  such 
an  agreement,  have  yet  a strong  general  confidence  in  the 
entire  sincerity  and  large  capabilities  of  discernment  of  Dr. 
Chalmers  ? They  not  only  do  not  receive,  but  they  have 
a strong  inward  repugnance  to  those  peculiar  doctrines, 
and  those  peculiar  ways — by  word  and  deed — of  illustrat- 
ing and  enforcing  them,  which  prevail  with  a certain  class 
of  religionists,  whom  they  are  in  the  habit  of  regarding 
generally  with  a sentiment  bordering  on  contemptuous 
disgust.  They  think,  that  for  that  sentiment  they  have 
good  and  valid  warrant.  They  believe  of  those  whom 
they  thus  pity  or  despise,  that  they  are  very  narrow- 
minded— that  they  neither  see  themselves  as  they  are 
seen  by  others,  nor  look  with  a broad  and  charitable  in- 
telligence along  the  wide  waving  lines  of  human  belief. 
It  might  serve  to  shake  such  out  of  that  confidence 
wherein  they  have  intrenched  themselves,  could  they  be 
made  to  see  it  of  another — and  that  other  such  a one  as 
they  admit  Dr.  Chalmers  to  have  been — that  the  very 
thoughts  which  they  now  are  thinking,  he  too  once 
thought — and  that  all  that  searching  discernment  which 
they  credit  themselves  with,  he  too  once  exercised  upon 
the  disciples  of  evangelism — and  that  the  full  force  of  all 
that  recoil  and  antipathy  which  they  are  feeling,  he  too 


X 


PREFACE. 


once  felt.  I have  not  inserted  in  this  volume  those 
earlier  sermons  in  which  fullest  and  most  vehement 
utterance  is  given  to  the  strong  dislike  which  he  at  that 
time  cherished  to  the  doctrines  of  free  grace,  and  to  the 
style  of  character  and  conduct  exhibited  by  many  of  the 
most  zealous  of  their  advocates.  Enough,  however,  is 
presented,  to  enable  the  intelligent  reader  to  look  upon 
the  earlier  period  of  his  ministry,  both  in  its  positive  and 
negative  aspects,  in  what  was  present  and  required  to  be 
removed — in  what  was  absent  and  required  to  be  impart- 
ed— in  the  prejudices  which  behoved  to  be  overborne,  as 
well  as  in  the  faith  which  behoved  to  be  implanted.  The 
contrast  between  the  first  seven  and  the  succeeding  ser- 
mons in  this  volume,  will  help  such  a reader  to  trace  in 
outline  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the  former  and 
latter  epochs  of  his  pulpit-history;  and  when  the  full 
materials  for  filling  up  that  outline  shall  have  been  fur- 
nished, still  more  clearly  will  he  then  discern  how  that 
earlier  experience  of  Dr.  Chalmers  qualified  him  for  deal- 
ing so  wisely,  so  faithfully  and  so  tenderly  as  he  ever 
did  with  those  in  whom  he  saw  what  he  once  himself  had  * 
been — and  helped  to  prepare  him  for  becoming  what, 
when  all  his  theological  writings  shall  have  been  given 
to  the  world,  I can  scarcely  doubt  that  he  will  be  gene- 
rally acknowledged  to  have  been — the  ablest  and  most 
judicious,  as  well  as  the  most  eloquent  expounder, 
within  the  whole  range  of  British  authorship,  of  the  two 
great  cardinal  doctrines  of  our  faith — the  doctrine  of  the 
radical  and  entire  depravity  of  our  nature,  and  the  doc- 
trine of  the  sinner’s  free  gratuitous  justification  before  God 
through  faith  in  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ. 


CONTENTS. 


SERMON  I. 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 

Pip 

MicaH  VI.  8.— “He  hath  showed  thee,  O man,  what  is  good:  and  what  doth  the  Lord 
require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy 
God?”  (1798.) 17 


SERMOtf  II. 

GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 

Jambs  iv.  11.— “ Speak  not  evil  one  of  another,  brethren.  He  that  speaketh  evil  of 
his  brother,  and  judgeth  his  brother,  speaketh  evil  of  the  law,  and  judgeth  the  law ; 
but  if  thou  judge  the  law,  thou  art  not  a doer  of  the  law,  but  a judge.” 28 


SERMON  III. 

THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 

John  xiv.  1.— “ Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled : ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.”.  42 


SERMON  IV. 

FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  CAVERS. 

Titus  i.  1. — “Paul,  a servant  of  God,  and  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the 
faith  of  God’s  elect,  and  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth  which  is  after  godliness.” 
(1802.) 50 


SERMON  V. 

FAST-DAY  SERMON. 

Psalm  xxvii.  3. — “ Though  an  host  should  encamp  against  me,  my  heart  shall  not  fear ; 
though  war  should  rise  against  me,  in  this  will  I be  confident.”  (1803.). 50 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


SERMON  VI. 

COURTEOUSNESS. 

1 Peter  hi.  8.—“  Be  courteous.”  (1808.) 


SERMON  VII. 

FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 

Proverbs  xxi.  1. — “ The  king’s  heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  as  the  rivers  of  water, 
he  turneth  it  whithersoever  he  will,”  (1809.) 79 


SERMON  VIII. 

THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO  A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 

Leviticus  xxvi.  34.—“  Then  shall  the  land  enjoy  her  sabbaths,  as  long  as  it  lieth  deso 
late,  and  ye  be  in  your  enemies’  land ; even  then  shall  the  land  rest,  and  enjoy  her 
sabbaths.”  (1810.) 89 


SERMON  IX. 

ZION  REMEMBERED  BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 

Psalm  cxxxvii.  1-6. — “By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down ; yea,  we  wept, 
when  we  remembered  Zion.  We  hanged  our  harps  upon  the  willows  in  the  midst 
thereof.  For  there  they  that  carried  us  Sway  captive  required  of  us  a song  ; and  they 
that  wasted  us  required  of  us  mirth,  saying,  Sing  us  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion.  How 
shall  we  sing  the  Lord’s  song  in  a strange  land?  If  I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem,  let 
my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning.  If  I do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to 
the  roof  of  my  mouth:  if  I prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.”  (1810.) 106 


SERMON  X. 

THE  LIVING  WATER. 

JOHN  iv.  10. — “ Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and 
who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink ; thou  wouldest  have  asked  of  him,  and 
he  would  have  given  thee  living  water.”  (1812.) 125 


SERMON  XI. 

THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND  THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 

Phil’ippians  iv.  3.—“  I can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me.” 
(1813.) 162 


SERMON  XII. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 

Romans  III.  10.— “ As  it  ia  written,  There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one.”  (1813.) . . . 182 


CONTENTS. 


xiii 


SERMON  XIII. 

DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 

Page 

John  xiv.  21. — “He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that 
loveth  me : and  he  that  loveth  me  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I will  love  him, 
and  will  manifest  myself  to  him.”  (1814.) 203 


SERMON  XIV. 

DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 

Acts  xxvi.  25. — “ But  he  said,  I am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus ; but  speak  forth  the 
words  of  truth  and  soberness.”  (1814.) 226 


SERMON  XV. 

FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 

Hebrews  hi.  7,  8. — “ Wherefore  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts.”  (1815.) 242 


SERMON  XVI. 

FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 

Colossians  II.  6. — “ As  ye  have  therefore  received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so  walk  ye 
in  Him.”  (1815.) 250 


SERMON  XVII. 

THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 

Luke  I.  74. — That  he  would  grant  unto  us,  that  we,  being  delivered  out  of  the  hand  of 
our  enemies,  might  serve  him  without  fear.”  (1815.) 263 


SERMON  XVIII. 

SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 

2 Corinthians  VI.  17,  18. — “Wherefore,  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  sepa- 
rate, saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing ; and  I will  receive  you,  and 
will  be  a Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty.”  (1815.) 276 


SERMON  XIX. 

SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 

2 Corinthians  vi.  17,  18.—“  Wherefore,  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  sepa- 
rate, saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing;  and  I will  receive  you,  and 
will  be  a Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty.”  (1815.) 291 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


SERMON  XX. 

THE  TEMPTATION. 

Pag# 

Luke  IV.  1-13. — “And  Jesus,  being1  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  returned  from  Jordan,  and 
was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness,  being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  devil.  And 
in  those  days  he  did  eat  nothing : and  when  they  were  ended,  he  afterward  hungered. 

And  the  devil  said  unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  this  stone  that  it  be 
made  bread.  And  Jesus  answered  him,  saying,  It  is  written,  That  man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  of  God.  And  the  devil,  taking  him  up  into  an  high 
mountain,  shewed  unto  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a moment  of  time.  And 
the  devil  said  unto  him,  All  this  power  will  I give  thee,  and  the  glory  of  them,  for 
that  is  delivered  unto  me  ; and  to  whomsoever  I will  I give  it.  If  thou  therefore  wilt 
worship  me,  all  shall  be  thine.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Get  thee 
behind  me,  Satan : for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him 
only  shalt  thou  serve.  And  he  brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  set  him  on  a pinnacle 
of  the  temple,  and  said  unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down  from 
hence : for  it  is  written,  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee ; and 
in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a 
stone.  And  Jesus  answering,  said  unto  him,  It  is  said,  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord 
thy  God.  And  when  the  devil  had  ended  all  the  temptation,  he  departed  from  him  for 
a season.”  (1815.) 300 


SERMON  XXI. 

THE  TEMPTATION. 

Luke  iv.  1-13. — “ And  Jesus,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  returned  from  Jordan,  and 
was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness,  being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  devil.  And 
in  those  days  he  did  eat  nothing : and  when  they  were  ended,  he  afterward  hungered. 

And  the  devil  said  unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  this  stone  that  it  be 
made  bread.  And  Jesus  answered  him,  saying,  It  is  written,  That  man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  of  God.  And  the  devil  taking  him  up  into  an  high 
mountain,  shewed  unto  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a moment  of  time.  And 
the  devil  said  unto  him,  All  this  power  will  I give  thee,  and  the  glory  of  them,  for 
that  is  delivered  unto  me  ; and  to  whomsoever  I will  I give  it.  If  thou  therefore  wilt 
worship  me,  all  shall  be  thine.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Get  thee 
behind  me,  Satan:  for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him 
only  shalt  thou  serve.  And  he  brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  set  him  on  a pinnacle 
of  the  temple,  and  said  unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down  from 
hence  : for  it  is  written,  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee  : and 
in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a 
stone.  And  Jesus  answering,  said  unto  him,  It  is  said,  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord 
thy  God.  And  when  the  devil  had  ended  all  the  temptation,  he  departed  from  him  for 
a season.”  (1815.) 317 


SERMON  XXII. 

THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 

2 Corinthians  v.  20. — “ Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did 
beseech  you  by  us : we  pray  you  in  Christ’s  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.”  (1815.)  338 


SERMON  XXIII. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 

Acts  VI.  2.— “Then  the  twelve  called  the  multitude  of  the  disciples  unto  them,  and  said, 

It  is  notreason  that  we  should  leave  the  word  of  God,  and  serve  tables.”  (1816.). . . . 356 


CONTENTS. 


XT 


SERMON  XXIV. 

CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 

Page 

Matthew  v.  38-48. — “Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a 
tooth  for  a tooth:  but  I say  unto  you,  That  ye  resist  not  evil;  but  whosoever  shall 
smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also.  And  if  any  man  will  sue 
thee  at  the  law,  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also.  And  whosoever 
shall  compel  thee  to  go  a mile,  go  with  him  twain.  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee  ; and 
from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou  away.  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath 
been  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor,  and  hate  thine  enemy.  But  I say  unto  you, 
Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and 
pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you,  and  persecute  you  ; that  ye  may  be  the 
children  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  : for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the 
evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  For  if  you  love 
them  which  love  you,  what  reward  have  ye?  do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same? 

And  if  ye  salute  your  brethren  only,  what  do  ye  more  than  others?  do  not  even  the 
publicans  so?  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is 
perfect.”  (1816.) 375 


SERMON  XXV. 

THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 

Acts  xix.  24,  25. — “ For  a certain  man,  named  Demetrius,  a silversmith,  which  made 
silver  shrines  for  Diana,  brought  no  small  gain  unto  the  craftsmen  ; whom  he  called 
together  with  the  workmen  of  like  occupation,  and  said,  Sirs,  ye  know  that  by  this 
craft  we  have  our  wealth.”  (1817.) 390 


SERMON  XXVI. 

THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 

1 Corinthians  i.  25. — “ The  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men.” 404 


SERMON  XXVII. 

DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 

COLOSSIANS  iv.  1.”—“  Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal ; 
knowing  that  ye  also  have  a Master  in  heaven.”  (1817.) 415 


SERMON  XXVIII. 

SERMON  TO  THE  TOUNG. 

Zechariah  vil.  13. — “Therefore  it  is  come  to  pass,  that  as  he  cried,  and  they  would 
not  hear ; so  they  cried,  and  I would  not  hear,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.”  (1822.) 427 

SERMON  XXIX. 

FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


Psalm  cxxxvii.  5,  6. — “ If  I forget  thee,  0 Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cun- 
ning. If  I do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  ; if  I 
prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy  ” (1823.) 437 


CONTENTS. 


xvi 


SERMON  XXX. 

FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 

Pag# 

Isaiah  yii.  3-5. — “ Fury  is  not  in  me  : who  would  set  the  briars  and  thorns  against  me 
in  battle  1 I would  go  through  them,  I would  burn  them  together.  Or  let  him  take 
hold  of  my  strength,  that  he  may  make  peace  with  me ; and  he  shall  make  peace 
with  me.” 454 


SERMON  XXXI. 

ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 

Psalm  xlviii.  8. — “As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we  seen  in  the  city  of  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
in  the  city  of  our  God:  God  will  establish  it  for  ever.”  (1839.) 473 


SERMON  XXXII. 

SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  FREE  ST.  JOHN'S,  GLASGOW. 

Mark  iv.  24.—“  Take  heed  what  ye  hear.”  Luke  viii.  18.— “ Take  heed  therefore  how 
ye  hear.”  (1845.) 484 

SERMON  XXXIII. 

THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

Isaiah  lti.  4,  5.—  ‘ Take  hold  of  my  covenant.”  (1847.). ,«•  505 


SERMON  I. 

[The  manuscript  of  the  following  sermon  bears  the  date  of  January  18 
1798,  two  months  before  Dr.  Chalmers’  eighteenth  birthday,  and  a year  and 
a half  before  he  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  as  a preacher  of  the  gospel. 
It  must  have  been  written  as  a Divinity  Hall  class  exercise  during  the  last 
session  of  his  regular  attendance  at  the  University  of  St.  Andrews.  Its  con- 
cluding paragraphs  lay  bare  to  us  those  fatal  misapprehensions  of  the  great 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  only,  which  were  cherished  by  him  during 
the  first  ten  years  of  his  ministry — against  which  he  was  afterwards  all  the 
better  fitted  to  guard  others  because  of  his  having  been  so  long  misled  by 
them  himself.] 

MICAH  VI.  8. 

“ He  hath  showed  thee,  O man,  what  is  good ; and  what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but 
to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  V' 

This  passage,  if  taken  in  connection  with  the  context, 
would  naturally  direct  our  thoughts  to  the  evils  of  hypocrisy 
and  superstition.  It  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  mind 
alone  is  the  s&at  of  virtue  ; that  in  our  estimation  of  religion 
we  are  not  to  have  respect  to  the  works  of  the  hand,  but 
only  to  the  moral  disposition  of  the  heart.  Instead,  however, 
of  adverting  more  particularly  to  the  occasion  of  the  text, 
I propose  to  consider  it  independently,  and  of  itself ; and 
shall  first  endeavor  to  illustrate  the  particular  duties  en- 
joined in  the  text,  and  shall  then  consider  it  in  its  connection 
with  the  religion  of  Jesus. 

The  Lord  requireth  of  thee  to  do  justly — to  love  mercy. 
The  promotion  of  happiness  is  the  great  end  of  all  social 
duty.  Wherefore  is  it  that  justice  approves  itself  to  our 
feelings  of  virtue  ? Because  without  its  observance  the 
peace,  the  happiness,  the  very  existence  of  society  would 
be  endangered.  Mercy,  also,  is  the  object  of  moral  appro- 
bation ; because  by  the  relief  of  indigence,  by  the  consola- 
tion of  misery,  it  advances  and  promotes  the  happiness  of 


18 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


men.  Both  are  equally  incumbent,  because  both  conduce 
to  the  same  end.  In  the  eye  of  civil  polity  doing  justly  may 
be  all  that  is  in  duty  required,  but  in  the  eye  of  eternal 
reason  and  virtue  loving  mercy  is  no  less  indispensable.  It 
is  the  end  which  these  virtues  have  a tendency  to  pro- 
mote that  confers  upon  them  their  moral  obligation.  This 
end  is  one  and  invariable ; the  means  which  lead  to  its 
attainment  are  diversified  with  the  circumstances  of  the 
case.  Justice  and  mercy  include  in  them  all  the  various 
manners  of  acting  by  which  we  can  contribute  to  the  hap- 
piness of  mankind.  Hence  they  resolve  themselves  into 
that  great  duty  which  consists  in  devoting  our  time  and 
our  labor  to  the  welfare  of  others.  Benevolence  or  univer- 
sal charity  is  the  source  from  which  the  observance  of  these 
duties  proceeds.  It  is  this  principle  of  love  which  guides 
through  the  path  of  duty,  and  is  the  fountain  of  all  our  social 
virtues.  It  equally  calls  upon  us  to  satisfy  the  demands  of 
justice  and  to  visit  the  abodes  of  wretchedness ; to  dis- 
charge with  fidelity  the  trust  reposed  in  us,  and  to  exercise 
all  our  tender  affections.  Let  us  cultivate  this  spirit  of 
benevolence  and  love,  and  we  fulfill  the  duties  recommended 
in  the  text ; for  all  the  commandments  are  briefly  compre- 
hended in  this  saying — Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  last  duty  which  the  text 
recommends — Thou  shalt  walk  humbly  with  thy  God. 
Walking  humbly  with  God  more  immediately  involves  in 
it  an  entire  acquiescence  in  His  authority — an  unbounded 
resignation  to  His  will.  It  is  opposed  to  that  arrogance  of 
mind  which  would  lead  us  to  cavil  and  repine  at  the  dis- 
pensations of  His  providence.  But  it  also  includes  in  it 
the  whole  of  piety ; to  it  may  be  referred  all  those  affections 
of  mind  which  should  result  from  the  relations  we  stand  in 
to  our  Creator.  It  is  with  God  that  we  are  required  to 
walk  humbly ; and  if  so,  we  must  be  open  to  every  senti- 
ment which  the  contemplation  of  His  perfections  is  calcu- 
lated to  inspire — to  the  awe  of  His  power,  to  confidence  in 
His  wisdom,  and  to  the  love  of  His  goodness.  The  man  of 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


19 


humility  strives  to  offer  an  acceptable  service  to  the  Author 
of  his  being.  Does  God  speak  ? he  listens  to  his  words  with 
an  awful  reverence ; he  reposes  an  unlimited  trust  in  His 
veracity.  Does  God  declare  his  will  ? with  unbounded 
faith  he  receives  His  sovereign  mandates,  and  submits  to 
their  influence.  A sacred  reverence  for  the  authority  of 
God  keeps  him  in  the  path  of  His  divine  commandments, 
and  leads  him  to  watch  over  his  conduct  with  trembling 
anxiety.  But  humility  towards  God  does  not  consist  en- 
tirely in  the  dread  of  His  power,  and  it  by  no  means  con- 
sists in  that  slavish  terror  which  enfeebles  the  energy  of 
the  mind,  and  destroys  the  vitals  of  our  happiness.  The 
Deity  hath  deigned  to  reveal  Himself  to  us  under  the  endear- 
ing images  of  our  father  and  friend.  He  hath  softened  the 
sense  of  His  greatness  by  giving  us  a view  of  his  benefi- 
cence and  love.  We  ought  therefore  to  cherish  sentiments 
of  gratitude  and  affection,  and  the  contemplation  of  the 
divine  goodness  should  inspire  our  hearts  with  confidence 
and  joy.  Think  not,  then,  that  piety  casts  a gloom  over 
the  face  of  nature.  Think  not  that  sullen  and  dejected  it 
retires  from  the  world  to  dwell  on  nothing  but  subjects  of 
melancholy.  Think  not  that  the  sigh  of  sadness  or  the 
tears  of  penitential  sorrow  are  its  whole  employments. 
True,  the  ravages  of  sin,  the  imperfections  of  finite  nature, 
may  cause  it  to  hide  its  face  for  a time  in  all  the  bitterness 
of  grief.  But  soon  will  the  light  of  the  divine  countenance 
be  restored,  and  that  voice  of  heavenly  consolation  be  heard 
which  speaketh  peace  to  the  soul.  Then  piety  appears 
arrayed  in  all  its  beauty  and  luster.  It  harmonizes  with 
every  generous  feeling  of  our  nature,  and  ennobles  the  en- 
joyments of  life.  It  confers  new  dignity  on  man ; and  the 
sense  of  this  dignity  affords  a new  theme  of  gratitude  and 
love. 

Now  may  we  be  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  applying 
the  epithet  “ good”  to  humility  or  piety  towards  God.  Alas, 
it  is  only  in  the  sense  of  His  wise  providence  that  we  can 
find  any  rational  support  to  the  soul  amidst  the  present 
scenes  of  obscurity  and  confusion  ! Man  mourns  over  his 


20 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


afflictions;  cares  and  anxieties  distract  his. mind.  Follow- 
ing after  peace,  earnest  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  the 
events  of  every  day  convince  him  of  the  fallacy  of  his  hopes 
— every  hour  brings  on  new  topics  of  lamentation  and  com- 
plaint. What  then  shall  he  do  ? Shall  he  sit  down  under 
the  despondency  of  continual  apprehension,  destitute  of  all 
hope  in  futurity,  and  incapable  of  the  sublime  exertions  of 
virtue  ? In  sullen  despair  shall  he  drag  out  his  miserable 
existence  without  a generous  sentiment  to  elevate  his  mind, 
and  without  a ray  of  consolation  to  cheer  the  gloom  of  life  ? 
No ; let  the  infinite  wisdom  and  unbounded  goodness  of 
God  be  impressed  on  his  mind ; let  him  contemplate  those 
provisions  which  the  Author  of  nature  hath  made  for  the 
encouragement  and  comfort  of  His  creatures ; and  let  him 
fit  himself  by  the  exercises  of  humility  and  piety  for  the 
enjoyment  of  the  blessings  which  these  provisions  insure  ; 
— then  will  be  dispelled  those  clouds  of  sorrow  and  dark- 
ness which  overhung  his  mind ; the  peace  of  his  soul  will 
be  completely  restored.  Resting  with  an  humble  assurance 
on  the  favor  of  his  God,  he  looks  forward  with  joy  to  that 
felicity  which  His  goodness  gives  him  reason  to  expect. 
Amidst  the  storms  and  the  tempests  of  life  he*  extends  his 
prospects  to  the  regions  of  everlasting  peace.  Let  us 
therefore  recognize  the  goodness  of  genuine  humility.  It 
is  good  in  the  moral  sense,  because  in  the  eye  of  reason  and 
of  virtue  it  naturally  results  from  that  relation  which  sub- 
sists between  man  and  his  Maker  ; and  it  is  good  also  in 
the  natural  sense,  because  it  alleviates  the  evils  of  this  pres- 
ent life,  and  prepares  us  for  the  enjoyment  of  eternal  felicity. 

In  the  same  manner  we  must  acknowledge  the  goodness 
of  benevolence.  The  exercises  of  pure  and  perfect  benev- 
olence would  convert  this  vale  of  tears  into  a paradise  of 
bliss.  Under  its  benign  influence  want  and  its  attendant 
evils  would  be  banished  from  the  earth ; men  would  feel 
little  of  the  evils,  and  would  enjoy  in  perfection  the  bless- 
ings of  life.  Why  has  the  populous  city  become  an  habit- 
ation for  the  beasts  of  the  desert?  Wherefore  is  that  a 
dreary  wilderness  which  was  formerly  crowned  with  the 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


21 


blessings  of  plenty — where  innocence  and  peace  took  up 
their  abode,  and  nothing  was  heard  but  the  voice  of  joy  ? 
We  are  not  to  say  that  Nature  was  unkind,  or  that  she  de- 
lights in  the  misery  of  her  children.  We  have  seldom  to 
ascribe  it  to  the  ravage  of  the  elements,  or  to  any  of  those 
evils  which  are  essential  to  our  state,  but  to  the  wickedness 
and  depravity  of  the  human  heart — to  the  dire  effusions  of 
passion — to  the  mad  ambition  of  wealth  and  of  power. 
These  are  the  principal  sources  of  human  wretchedness ; 
and  these  it  is  the  direct  tendency  of  benevolence  to  suppress. 
Under  its  happy  reign  all  would  enjoy  the  exquisite  pleas- 
ures of  loving  and  of  being  beloved — pleasures  which  are 
congenial  to  the  heart  and  make  up  the  chief  part  of  our 
happiness.  Though  the  powers  of  nature  should  conspire 
to  rob  us  of  our  peace,  yet  the  voice  of  love  would  invite  us 
to  gladness.  Though  the  heavens  should  withhold  their 
rain,  and  the  earth  forbear  to  yield  its  increase ; or  though 
the  fair  face  of  nature  should  be  overcast  in  the  gloom  of 
night,  and  the  blast  of  the  storm  should  threaten  to  over- 
whelm us  ; yet  supported  by  the  kind  endearments  of  friend- 
ship, we  may  continue  unruffled  and  serene,  and  our  minds 
be  open  to  the  most  feeling  enjoyments.  On  the  other  hand 
let  everything  without  unite  to  gratify  our  desires  and  in- 
crease our  enjoyments ; let  the  labor  of  the  year  be  crowned 
with  success ; let  the  seasons  join  in  concert  for  our  accom- 
modation and  ease ; let  the  sun  dispense  in  due  proportion 
his  cheering  influences ; let  the  fury  of  the  tempest  be  al- 
layed, and  all  around  us  be  clothed  in  mildness  and  beauty; 
unless  the  heart  of  man  accords  with  the  beneficence  of  na- 
ture— unless  his  mind  is  open  to  the  warm  impressions  of 
sympathy  and  love — misery  will  still  be  our  lot ; the  tale  of 
wo  will  still  be  heard  in  our  streets ; and  this  world  will 
continue  the  abode  of  wretchedness.  The  sufferings  of  Job 
were  aggravated  in  the  extreme.  Yet  the  loss  of  his  wealth, 
the  ravages  of  disease,  the  death  of  his  children,  the  disso- 
lution of  the  most  endearing  connections  in  nature,  were  all 
unable  to  shake  the  patient  fortitude  of  his  mind.  Still  could 
he  raise  to  heaven  the  voice  of  gratitude  and  resignation : 


22 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


The  Lord  giveth,  the  Lord  taketh  away ; blessed  be  His 
name.  But  when  his  companions  and  friends,  instead  of  al- 
laying the  anguish  of  his  grief,  instead  of  taking  upon  them 
the  part  of  a comforter,  began  to  insult  him  with  their  bitter 
accusations,  then  the  vigor  of  his  mind  was  unequal  to  the 
arduous  contest,  and  his  soul,  no  longer  able  to  support  it- 
self, was  subjected  to  the  mingled  emotions  of  indignation 
and  grief.  Nature  is  kind  enough,  if  we  were  only  kind  to 
one  another.  But  often,  alas ! do  the  dark  designs  of  malice 
work  in  our  breasts  ; often  do  the  silly  emotions  of  pride  and 
of  envy  obstruct  the  enjoyments  of  social  intercourse.  O 
that  the  principle  of  benevolence  within  us  were  powerful 
enough  to  eradicate  these  passions  from  our  hearts.  O that 
we  were  sacrificing  our  absurd  notions  of  importance  and 
dignity,  our  views  of  interest  and  ambition,  to  that  great  ob- 
ject— the  good  of  others.  O that  the  sufferings  of  our  fel- 
low-men were  calling  forth  the  tears  of  sympathy,  and  rous- 
ing to  exertions  of  beneficence  and  love ; then  the  burdens 
of  life  would  bear  light  upon  us,  and  our  days  would  pass 
in  the  pure  enjoyment  of  innocence  and  virtue. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  consider  the  religion  of  Jesus  in 
its  connection  with  the  spirit  of  the  text. 

Justice,  mercy,  and  piety,  are  all  that  are  or  can  be  re- 
quired of  us  by  God.  Hence  if  we  are  bound  to  acquiesce 
in  the  doctrines  and  to  obey  the  precepts  of  the  gospel,  this 
acquiescence  and  this  obedience  must  be  the  consequence  of 
one  or  other  of  those  duties  which  are  enjoined  in  the  text. 
Faith  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  must  be  the  necessary  effect 
of  walking  humbly  with  God,  if  the  testimony  of  the  apos- 
tles and  evangelists  be  entitled  to  belief.  This  will  appear 
from  considering  the  nature  of  that  evidence  by  which 
Christianity  is  supported.  Those  arguments  for  its  truth 
which  are  derived  from  our  experience  of  the  usual  conduct 
and  behavior  of  men  have  never  been  refuted.  And  on 
the  validity  of  these  arguments,  we  are  capable  of  forming 
a right,  unerring  judgment ; since  the  conduct  of  men  in  all 
states  and  circumstances  is  the  subject  of  daily  observation. 
But  whence  are  the  objections  of  our  opponents  derived  ? 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


23 


They  are  derived  from  some  supposed  defect  in  the  scheme 
or  dispensation  of  Christianity;  from  something  which  they 
imagine  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  God,  or  un- 
worthy of  His  perfections.  But  can  this  invalidate  the  force 
of  that  evidence  which  we  know  how  to  measure  and  ascer- 
tain? When  reasoning  on  the  conduct  of  men,  we  can  form 
our  conclusions  with  certainty  and  precision ; but  when  rea- 
soning on  the  conduct  of  God,  we  are  involved  in  the  clouds 
of  ignorance  and  error.  We  are  unable  to  scan  the  ways 
of  Jehovah,  to  trace  the  operations  of  unerring  wisdom. 
We  cannot  determine  on  the  rectitude  of  the  divine  dispen 
sations,  since  we  know  them  not  in  all  their  relations  and 
all  their  extent.  It  is  not  for  us,  the  frail  insects  of  a day, 
who  are  yet  in  the  childhood  of  existence,  who  scarce  have 
had  time  to  look  about  us  in  the  immense  theater  of  being; 
it  is  not  for  us  to  oppose  the  feeble  powers  of  our  reason  to 
the  wonders  of  Omnipotence.  When  we  know  the  mechan- 
ism of  the  universe,  when  we  are  acquainted  with  the  laws 
by  which  its  vast  operations  are  conducted,  when  we  can 
trace  the  connections  which  run  through  the  various  systems 
of  being — then,  and  then  only,  are  we  entitled  to  decide  on 
the  propriety  of  the  means  which  the  Author  of  nature  may 
adopt  for  the  completion  of  His  designs.  Seeing  then  our 
ignorance  in  the  ways  of  God,  we  must  be  cautious  of 
making  some  supposed  inconsistency  with  His  attributes  a 
ground  of  rejecting  what  is  proposed  as  the  revelation  of 
His  will.  No  opinion  that  we  may  form  of  His  conduct 
can  ever  be  the  criterion  of  its  truth  or  falsehood.  But  the 
case  is  different  with  regard  to  the  conduct  of  men ; here 
we  can  reason  with  all  the  confidence  of  truth.  Shall 
therefore  a mere  assumption  on  the  methods  of  the  divine 
administration  counterbalance  those  arguments  on  which 
alone  we  are  capable  of  deciding  with  assurance  ? I leave 
it  to  the  determination  of  sound  philosophy.  Thus  Chris- 
tianity approves  itself  to  our  understandings  as  being  di- 
vinely inspired,  and  we  fail  in  our  duty  to  God  if  we  believe 
not  its  doctrines  nor  submit  to  its  precepts. 

When  inquiring  into  the  divine  will  we  would  observe  that 


24 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


the  doctrines  of  revelation  are  laid  before  us  with  different 
degrees  of  light  and  clearness.  Hence  we  would  receive 
them  with  the  hesitation  of  partial  knowledge,  or  with  the 
confidence  of  truth.  What  is  clearly  revealed  we  would 
treasure  up  in  our  minds  as  of  the  most  essential  importance. 
What  is  hid  in  obscurity  or  is  remote  from  our  apprehen- 
sions we  would  regard  with  an  awful  reverence,  but  would 
forbear  to  reason  on  with  the  assurance  of  dogmatism.  But, 
alas  ! this  natural  order  has  been  inverted — and  to  this  we 
are  in  a great  measure  to  ascribe  the  corruptions  of  Christi- 
anity. Instead  of  employing  their  zeal  in  maintaining  that 
faith  and  that  practice  which  are  clearly  laid  down  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  which  it  insists  upon  as  our  duty  to  God  and  as 
essential  to  our  happiness,  many  have  directed  their  chief 
attention  to  those  subjects  on  which  it  is  undecided  and  ob- 
scure. They  have  attached  the  highest  degree  of  import- 
ance to  those  doctrines  which  transcend  the  limits  of  our 
faculties,  and  to  these  they  have  sacrificed  all  that  can  in- 
form the  understanding  or  improve  the  heart.  Thus  religion 
is  made  to  consist  in  dark  speculations  and  unprofitable  in- 
quiries. The  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  gospel  is  defaced, 
and  a dark  vail  of  mysticism  intercepts  from  our  view  the 
light  of  divine  truth.  The  effects  of  heavenly  instruction 
are  lost  on  the  world,  since  Christianity  thus  perverted  from 
its  original  excellence  is  unsuited  to  the  natures  and  capaci- 
ties of  reasonable  beings.  The  corrupters  of  evangelical 
purity,  in  accordance  with  their  zeal  for  the  particular  doc- 
trines they  have  espoused,  maintain  the  absolute  necessity 
of  believing  in  them.  Thus  in  their  systems  of  theological 
truth,  they  have  had  the  audacity  to  heap  article  on  article, 
and  to  crown  all  with  this  thundering  assertion — that  eternal 
misery  awaits  those  who  should  dare  to  dissent.  What  a 
lamentable  deviation  from  the  spirit  of  the  text ! Here  the 
rewards  of  heaven  are  attached  to  the  exercise  of  our  vir- 
tuous affections.  And  what  is  the  line  of  conduct  which 
these  would  lead  us  to  adopt?  They  lead  us  to  repose  an 
unlimited  confidence  in  the  veracity  of  God,  to  examine 
the  revelation  of  His  will  with  humility  and  candor,  and  to 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


25 


keep  our  minds  open  to  those  impressions  which  the  perusal 
of  its  contents  are  fitted  to  produce.  If,  therefore,  the  tenets 
of  these  religionists  are  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  truth, 
it  will  be  a dictate  of  piety  that  we  acquiesce  in  them,  since 
it  would  be  an  insult  on  the  Divine  Being  to  withhold  our 
assent.  But  the  faith  of  Christianity  is  praiseworthy  and 
meritorious  only  because  it  is  derived  from  the  influence  of 
virtuous  sentiments  on  the  mind.  Hence  the  labors  of  those, 
are  grossly  misapplied  who  inculcate  the  belief  of  certain 
religious  truths  as  the  method  of  obtaining  the  favor  of  heav- 
en. Let  us  rather  endeavor  to  inspire  men  with  virtuous 
affections ; let  us  impress  upon  their  hearts  the  sentiments 
of  humility  and  piety;  and  let  us  refer  the  revelations  of  the 
divine  will  to  their  own  examination.  They  will  there  recog- 
nize the  doctrines  which  it  is  incumbent  on  them  to  believe, 
and  they  will  discern  the  sources  of  this  incumbency.  Let 
us  tremble  to  think  that  anything  but  virtue  can  recom- 
mend us  to  the  Almighty.  True,  we  wander  in  the  paths 
of  vanity  and  darkness,  and  Christ  is  pointed  out  to  us  as 
our  only  refuge  against  the  terrors  of  guilt ; but  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  our  Saviour,  that  faith  in  Him,  which  is 
essential  to  our  happiness,  is  brought  about  by  the  impulse 
of  moral  sentiment,  and  unless  it  were  so  we  cannot  see 
how  it  could  insure  to  us  the  favor  of  heaven. 

In  nothing  has  the  genius  of  mysticism  more  displayed 
itself  than  in  the  delineations  of  that  faith  which  is  a requi- 
site to  salvation.  We  recognize  the  faith  of  Christianity 
as  that  which  is  derived  from  the  force  of  reason,  and  the 
energy  of  virtuous  sentiment.  But  the  misguided  votaries 
of  superstition  and  fanaticism  have  involved  this  subject  in 
darkness.  They  talk  of  faith,  and  their  notions  of  this  faith 
are  contradictory  and  absurd  ; a faith  which  consists  not  in 
the  assent  of  the  understanding,  but  in  some  strange  unde- 
finable  affection  of  the  mind — a faith  not  derived  from  the 
calm  exercises  of  the  inquiring  faculty,  or  from  the  sober 
suggestions  of  humility  and  piety ; but  a faith  which  pre- 
cedes all  examination,  and  is  said  to  be  the  primary  source 
of  all  that  is  good  and  excellent  in  the  human  character.  I 

VOL.  VI.  b 


26 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


ask  the  man  of  common  sense,  if  he  can  form  to  himself  any 
idea  of  this  faith — the  favorite  topic  of  declamation  with  these 
famed  religionists.  But  they  love  to  soar  aloft ; their  ears 
are  soothed,  their  imaginations  are  dazzled  with  those  high- 
sounding  words,  those  notable  phrases  which  they  think  can 
explain  all  the  mysteries  of  theological  science.  We  con- 
sider the  faith  of  Christianity  to  be  the  humble  assurance  of 
•an  honest  mind  which  grounds  its  confidence  on  the  con- 
sciousness of  its  own  sincerity,  on  the  view  of  the  divine 
goodness,  and  on  the  contemplation  of  those  provisions  which 
the  Author  of  nature  hath  made  for  the  encouragement  of 
erring  mortals.  But  the  perverters  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus  have  determined  that  to  be  the  saving  faith  which  none 
but  the  presumptuous  can  entertain  ; not  that  faith  which 
worketh  by  love,  which  purifieth  the  heart,  and  which  over- 
cometh  the  world,  but  that  faith  which,  according  with  the 
pride  of  their  minds,  elevates  them  in  their  own  esteem  as 
the  peculiar  favorites  of  heaven.  This  faith  (horrible  to  re- 
late) they  carry  about  with  them  as  an  amulet  against  the 
reproaches  of  a guilty  conscience,  and  thus  do  they  stifle  the 
feelings  of  nature,  and  check  the  sentiments  of  virtue.  Sanc- 
tioned by  this  faith  they  may  oppress  the  poor,  the  father- 
less, and  the  widow — they  may  betray  the  interests  of  an 
unsuspecting  friend,  while  they  lay  claim  to  the  friendship 
of  heaven.  Sanctioned  by  this  faith  they  may  indulge  in 
every  excess  of  sensual  voluptuousness,  while  they  have  con- 
fidence in  their  hearts  towards  God,  who  is  of  purer  eyes  than 
to  behold  iniquity.  Sanctioned  by  this  faith  they  may  med- 
itate on  schemes  of  robbery  and  murder,  while  they  exclaim 
with  exultation — Lo,  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  is  in  us. — O my  soul 
come  not  thou  into  their  secret ; unto  their  assembly  mine 
honor  be  not  thou  united.  Instruments  of  cruelty  are  in  their 
habitations  ; they  bathe  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  inno- 
cence ; they  lurk  in  the  dark  haunts  of  villainy ; and,  good 
God  ! they  sit  secure  amidst  such  enormities,  and  rejoice  in 
their  presumption  as  the  mark  of  intimacy  with  the  Spirit, 
and  of  growth  in  grace. 

O Christianity  whither  hast  thou  fled  ? where  hast  thou 


DIVINE  SUMMARY  OF  HUMAN  DUTY. 


27 


taken  up  thine  abode  ? We  sought  for  thy  instructions,  but 
counsels  were  darkened  by  words  without  knowledge.  We 
sought  for  thy  beauties,  and  the  picture  of  horrid  deformity 
was  exhibited  to  our  view.  We  sought  for  thy  consola- 
tions, and  our  souls  were  appalled  with  the  sounds  of  horror 
and  despair.  Surely  thou  art  despoiled  of  thy  graces  and 
thy  ornaments.  Surely  thou  hast  resigned  the  lovely  hon- 
ors of  thy  head.  We  took  thee  for  the  messenger  of  glad 
tidings,  for  the  publisher  of  love,  peace,  and  joy ; but  we  have 
seen  thee  clothed  with  terror,  and  striking  with  dismay  thy 
slavish  worshipers.  We  took  thee  for  the  support  and  en- 
couragement of  virtue,  but,  alas  ! we  have  seen  all  that  ac- 
cords with  the  feelings  of  our  minds  despised  and  overlook- 
ed, and  we  have  seen  thy  blessings  and  thy  rewards  attached 
to  the  pride  of  censorious  dogmatism,  to  the  confidence  of 
presumption,  and  to  the  unmeaning  effusions  of  false  zeal. 
The  soul  formed  to  sentiments  of  generosity  sickens  at  the 
prospect,  and  must  either  rise  superior  to  the  prejudices  of 
the  times,  or  (dreadful  alternative)  shelter  itself  in  infidel 
repose. 

Let  us  therefore  pray  the  Father  of  Spirits  that  He  would 
dispel  those  clouds  of  ignorance  and  error  which  overwhelm 
the  nations  ; that  He  would  enable  them  to  see  the  religion 
of  Jesus  in  its  native  purity  ; that  He  would  enable  them  to 
see  it  through  that  vail  of  mysticism  with  which  the  perni- 
cious superstition  of  men  hath  invested  it ; that  He  would 
enable  them  to  see  it  as  the  offspring  of  reason  and  virtue. 
Then  they  will  leave  their  dark  and  intricate  speculations. 
They  will  learn  to  relish  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel — that 
affecting  strain  of  sentiment  which  pervades  it — that  warm 
spirit  of  benevolence  which  it  breathes — those  sublime  pre- 
cepts of  morality  which  it  inculcates.  They  will  learn  to 
admire  and  to  imitate  the  rational  and  elevated  piety,  the 
ardent  charity,  the  pure  and  exalted  virtue  of  Jesus  and  His 
apostles. 


SERMON  II. 

[No  date  is  attached  either  to  this  sermon  or  to  that  which  immediately 
succeeds  it.  The  state  however  of  the  manuscripts,  and  the  style  of  the 
penmanship  (which  from  the  marked  changes  it  undergoes  at  different  suc- 
cessive stages  is  almost  of  itself  a sufficient  guide),  as  well  as  certain  internal 
evidences,  carry  with  them  the  conviction  that  these  two  sermons  were 
among  the  very  earliest  of  Dr.  Chalmers’  pulpit  preparations.] 

JAMES  IV.  11. 

“ Speak  not  evil  one  of  another,  brethren.  He  that  speaketh  evil  of  his  brother,  and  judgeth 
his  brother,  speaketh  evil  of  the  law,  and  judgeth  the  law:  but  if  thou  judge  the  law, 
thou  art  not  a doer  of  the  law,  but  a judge.” 

It  is  not  calumny  to  speak  evil  of  another  when  the  evi- 
dence of  his  guilt  is  undeniable,  and  when  it  is  necessary  to 
defend  the  young  against  the  dangers  of  his  example.  It  is 
not  calumny  to  deal  out  to  vice  its  infamy  and  its  correction 
— to  hold  it  up  to  the  terror  and  the  execration  of  the  neigh- 
borhood— to  lay  open  the  secret  recesses  of  hypocrisy — or 
to  unmask  the  dissimulations  of  injustice.  If  this  is  to  be  de- 
nounced as  calumny,  vice  will  reign  triumphant  in  the  world, 
public  opinion  will  lose  its  energy,  deceit  and  profligacy 
will  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  resentment  of  indignation  ; 
they  will  lift  an  unabashed  countenance  in  the  face  of  day, 
and  lord  it  in  insolent  security.  Some  are  for  carrying  the 
victory  of  candor  to  a disgusting  and  an  affected  extremity. 
I hate  that  candor  that  would  control  the  risings  of  a gen- 
erous indignation,  where  guilt  is  open  and  unquestionable  ; 
that  candor  which  can  ape  Christian  charity,  while  it  looks 
with  patience  on  the  oppressions  or  the  triumphs  of  injus- 
tice ; that  candor  which  can  maintain  a regulated  compo- 
sure of  aspect,  though  it  sees  virtue  in  disgrace,  and  vice 
enthroned  in  the  honors  of  preferment ; that  well-bred  ac- 
commodation which  can  smile  equally  on  all,  and  sit  in  con- 
tentment amid  the  general  decay  of  worth  and  principle. 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


29 


Such  a man  as  this  passes  for  a lover  of  peace,  an  excellent 
member  of  society,  who  never  thinks  of  disturbing  our  re- 
pose by  his  furious  and  turbulent  invectives — who  never 
obtrudes  his  own  offensive  peculiarities  of  temper  or  of 
opinion — who  never  acts  the  firebrand  of  mischief,  but  suf- 
fers us  to  proceed  in  quietness.  But  to  complete  the  pic- 
ture, this  good-natured  accommodating  man  has  sometimes 
an  interest  to  mind,  which  requires  him  on  the  one  hand  to 
yield  to  the  reigning  corruptions,  and  on  the  other  to  de- 
press the  credit  and  pretensions  of  an  obnoxious  individual. 
Let  us  observe  the  plan  which  this  enemy  to  evil-speaking 
and  to  everything  that  is  violent  and  intemperate,  let  us  ob- 
serve the  plan  he  pursues  to  time  it  to  his  purposes.  This 
pattern  of  Christian  temper  will  find  it  necessary  to  throw 
out  his  insinuations,  but  then  he  will  do  it  with  decency  ; he 
will  betray  no  rash  or  unguarded  violence  ; he  will  trample 
on  no  established  ceremonial ; he  will  speak  kindness  and 
smile  complacency  on  the  victim  of  his  resentment ; he  will 
honor  him  with  the  attentions  of  politeness,  and  share  with 
him  the  hour  of  mirth  and  conviviality.  Some  feelings  of 
malignity  may  rankle  in  his  bosom — but  then  he  does  not 
offend  by  the  ostentation  of  them.  Some  secret  mischief 
may  be  brooding  in  his  intentions,  but  then  he  does  not  alarm 
by  his  menaces.  Whatever  is  calculated  to  agitate  or  ter- 
rify he  kindly  withdraws  from  his  observation,  and  delights 
him  by  his  manners  and  civility,  though  he  find  it  conven- 
ient at  times  to  make  free  with  his  character — propagate  in 
secret  the  tale  of  infamy — set  all  his  low  rabble  of  emissa- 
ries on  the  work  of  misrepresentation — and  awaken  the 
contempt  or  hostility  of  a deluded  public.  Yet  such  is  the 
false  estimate  of  calumny,  which  pervades  these  scenes  of 
interest  and  competition — where  the  artifices  of  mere  policy 
have  perverted  every  sentiment  of  justice,  and  crushed  every 
genuine  and  unaffected  feeling  of  the  heart — where  the  in- 
dignation of  a mind  at  glaring  and  acknowledged  guilt,  is 
ascribed  to  the  working  of  a foul-mouthed  malignity — while 
not  a man  appears  to  lift  the  voice  of  remonstrance  against 
the  character  of  him  who,  under  the  semblances  of  a smooth 


30 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


exterior,  will  spread  his  deceitful  insinuations  and  work  the 
ruin  and  disgrace  of  the  upright. 

The  guilt  of  calumny  lies  in  the  three  following  circum- 
stances: First,  in  the  imperfection  of  that  evidence  upon 
which  the  calumny  is  founded.  Second,  in  the  injury  it 
does  to  the  unhappy  victim.  Third,  in  its  prejudicial 
effects  upon  the  general  interests  of  virtue. 

First,  then,  as  to  the  imperfection  of  the  evidence.  There 
are  some  actions  which  carry  villainy  on  the  very  face  of 
them,  and  which  can  meet  with  no  quarter  even  from  the 
meekness  of  charity — such  as  the  foulness  of  a murder,  the 
infamy  of  artful  and  deliberate  seduction,  the  desertion  of  a 
parent  who  is  left  by  the  ingratitude  of  his  children  to  the 
solitude  and  helplessness  of  age,  the  brazen  effrontery  of 
falsehood,  which  can  rejoice  in  the  success  of  its  artifices,  and 
laugh  at  the  unsuspecting  simplicity  of  the  virtuous.  There 
are  other  actions  where  the  merit  is  ambiguous  or  uncertain, 
and  this  is  the  favorite  field  for  the  exercise  of  calumny. 
When  a man  relieves  a beggar  in  the  street,  it  may  be  the 
impulse  of  generous  emotion,  but  calumny  will  tell  you  it 
is  the  vanity  of  ostentation.  When  a man  stops  short  in  the 
career  of  prosperity,  and  resigns  himself  to  the  mercy  of 
his  creditors,  it  may  be  the  cruelty  of  misfortune,  but  calum- 
ny will  tell  you  of  his  concealed  treasure,  of  his  fictitious 
entries,  of  his  sly  and  artful  evasions.  When  a man  gives 
himself  to  mirth  and  to  company,  it  may  be  the  innocent 
act  of  a convivial  and  benevolent  heart,  but  calumny  will 
tell  you  of  his  midnight  excess,  of  his  habitual  licentiousness, 
of  his  extravagant  dissipation.  When  we  hear  in  the  house 
the  music  of  family  devotion,  it  may  be  in  the  spirit  of  old 
and  respectable  piety,  but  calumny  will  tell  you  of  the  rigor 
of  puritanical  solemnity,  or  the  disgusting  mask  of  the  hypo- 
crite. When  a man  is  prosecuting  the  claims  of  justice,  it 
may  be  with  all  the  purity  of  upright  and  honorable  inten- 
tions, but  calumny  will  tell  you  that  it  is  the  gripe  of  avarice 
or  the  insolence  of  oppression.  Where  candor  would  hesi- 
tate, calumny  assumes  the  tone  of  authority.  Where  can- 
dor would  demand  proof  and  investigation,  calumny  gives 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


31 


her  confident  decisions.  Where  candor  is  for  waiting  in 
silence  and  suspending  her  judgments,  calumny  draws  her 
precipitate  inference,  and  indulges  in  all  the  temerity  of 
invective.  Where  candor  is  for  checking  the  progress  of 
a malicious  report  as  unwarranted  by  evidence,  calumny 
renews  all  her  efforts  and  gives  fresh  activity  to  the  circu- 
lation. Where  the  merit  of  an  action  is  disguised  by  the 
uncertainty  of  its  evidence,  or  the  ambiguity  of  its  complex- 
ion, candor  always  gives  her  decision  on  the  side  of  inno- 
cence and  of  mercy,  but  it  is  the  delight  of  calumny  to 
give  it  a dark,  malignant  coloring,  and  to  send  it  round  to 
infamy  and  reprobation.  You  must  all  have  observed  the 
successive  additions  that  are  given  to  the  tale  of  scandal  as 
it  circulates  through  a neighborhood.  They  sometimes  pro- 
ceed from  malice,  but  oftener  I believe  from  an  idle,  gossip- 
ing propensity — from  the  love  of  being  listened  to  with 
astonishment — from  the  want,  not  of  heart  and  tenderness, 
but  from  the  want  of  cautious  and  reflecting  prudence — 
from  the  hurry  and  inadvertence  of  the  moment  when 
acquaintances  meet,  and  the  happy  hour  is  given  to  thought- 
lessness and  to  gayety.  Let  it  be  remembered,  however, 
that  thoughtlessness  is  criminal  when  it  is  employed  in  giv- 
ing currency  to  falsehood — when  it  tends  to  mislead  society 
on  a matter  of  such  sacred  importance  as  the  character  of 
one  of  its  members — when  it  consigns  the  upright  to  shame 
and  to  infamy — when  it  sets  up  the  hasty  cry  of  execration 
in  cases  where  the  evidence  is  uncertain,  and  candor  tells 
us  to  forbear. 

The  action  which  calumny  condemns  in  its  unhappy 
victim  should  be  attributed  to  him  with  hesitation,  because 
in  each  step  of  its  progress  the  story  is  apt  to  gain  an  ad- 
dition from  the  mistakes  of  the  inconsiderate,  or  from  the 
fabrications  of  a deliberate  malignity.  The  motive  from 
which  the  action  is  said  to  have  originated  should  if  possi- 
ble be  assigned  with  still  greater  hesitation,  because  it  lies 
in  the  heart — it  hides  in  a vail  of  impenetrable  secrecy — it 
is  unseen  by  every  eye  save  Omniscience — it  is  written  on 
no  record  save  the  book  of  judgment — it  remains  untold  till 


32 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


that  awful  day  when  the  universe  shall  hear  it — when  the 
worlds  shall  assemble  round  our  Redeemer’s  throne,  and 
listen  to  the  revelations  of  justice.  There  is  no  subject  that 
demands  more  time  and  more  investigation  than  a question 
of  character ; yet  how  seldom  do  men  think  of  suspending 
their  judgment — how  rash  and  how  presumptuous  in  their 
decisions — how  prone  to  malicious  interpretation  in  cases 
that  are  ambiguous — how  fond  of  indulging  in  the  eloquence 
of  invective,  and  how  elated  with  the  malignant  pleasure 
of  throwing  ridicule  on  the  absent,  and  sending  the  tale  of 
detraction  through  the  country.  It  is  a peculiarity  which 
you  must  all  have  observed,  that  where  the  ca^e  is  positively 
uncertain  the  general  propensity  is  to  give  it  on  the  side  of 
condemnation — to  attach  to  it  the  most  malignant  construc- 
tion of  which  it  is  susceptible — to  dress  it  up  in  the  colors 
of  infamy,  and  to  give  all  the  confidence  of  truth  to  what 
are  at  best  but  the  fancies  of  a suspicious  temper.  It  is  in 
this  way  that  the  world  is  ever  doing  the  grossest  injustice 
to  individuals — that  the  innocent  are  at  times  repelled  by 
the  scowl  of  suspicion — that  virtue  labors  under  the  con- 
tempt of  a deluded  people — that  the  man  whose  heart  rises 
in  all  the  warmth  of  affection  can  often  meet  with  no  eye 
of  kindness  to  cheer  him,  no  friend  to  enlighten  the  solitude 
of  his  bosom.  There  is  a worth  that  escapes  the  eye  of  an 
unthinking  world — a deed  of  exalted  charity  that  they  never 
hear  of — a tear  of  secret  affection  that  shrinks  from  notice, 
and  courts  the  indulgence  of  retirement — a life  spent  in 
unseen  acts  of  beneficence  which  are  only  recorded  in  the 
book  of  heaven.  To  all  this  the  world  is  a stranger;  it  sees 
not  the  heart ; it  forms  its  estimate  upon  the  appearances  of 
a delusive  exterior;  it  overlooks  the  intention,  and  in  the 
temerity  of  its  heedless  decisions,  will  lacerate  and  deform 
the  best  of  characters.  The  world  is  the  slave  of  manners. 
It  will  love  you  if  you  can  put  on  the  smiling  countenance 
of  affection ; it  will  give  you  credit  for  a social  and  benev- 
olent heart  if  you  can  lead  your  company  to  mirth,  and 
maintain  the  frank  and  open  air  of  an  undissembled  honesty. 
But  how  many  of  the  first  of  our  race  are  incapable  of  man- 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


33 


ner — are  oppressed  by  the  embarrassments  of  modesty — 
shrink  from  the  observation  of  the  world — give  themselves 
up  to  the  silence  of  tin  awkward  timidity,  and  under  the 
disguise  of  a cold  and  unpromising  exterior,  are  received 
in  every  company  with  the  frowns  of  antipathy  and  disgust. 
The  character  of  such  a man  is  not  known  beyond  the  little 
circle  of  his  friends  and  of  his  family — of  those  poor  whom 
his  bounty  sustains,  and  those  cottages  which  his  charity 
enlightens.  He  lives  to  obscurity,  and  dies  in  forgetfulness ; 
no  epitaph  to  blazon  his  virtues — no  pomp  of  heraldry  to 
embalm  his  remembrance.  His  death  is  never  heard  of 
among  the  tidings  of  the  market-place.  His  only  memorial 
is  the  memorial  of  simple  and  unnoticed  virtue — the  tears 
of  his  children,  and  the  regret  of  his  humble  neighborhood. 

Let  the  sense  of  our  ignorance  restrain  a disposition  to 
rash  and  unthinking  calumny.  The  action  is  often  trans- 
formed by  the  errors  of  inadvertence,  or  the  artifices  of  a 
willful  misrepresentation.  The  motive  is  as  often  disguised 
from  the  secret  and  unknown  circumstances  on  which  it  is 
founded.  To  tell  the  motive  we  must  fathom  the  mysteries 
of  the  heart  which  sits  in  an  invisible  retirement,  and  eludes 
the  penetration  of  mortals.  In  deciding  upon  a partial  view 
of  circumstances  we  run  the  risk  of  a total  misconception  ; 
the  addition  of  a single  fact  will  often  suffice  to  reverse  the 
judgment  we  had  formed,  and  to  convince  us  that  that 
action  is  laudable  which,  in  the  temerity  of  our  unthinking 
ignorance,  we  had  before  pronounced  to  be  criminal.  When 
a man  shuts  himself  up  in  retirement,  and  abstains  from  the 
expenses  of  hospitality,  calumny  will  immediately  denounce 
him  as  an  avaricious  and  unsociable  character ; but  calumny 
should  stop  its  mouth  when  it  hears  that  all  the  savings  of 
this  frugality  are  given  to  support  the  infirmity  of  an  aged 
parent.  When  a man  gives  up  the  laborious  exercises  of 
his  employment,  and  becomes  an  humble  dependent  on  the 
charity  of  others,  calumny  will  instantly  ascribe  it  to  the 
love  of  ease  and  of  indolence ; but  calumny  should  soften 
its  decision  when  it  hears  that  his  strength  is  wasted  by  the 
secret  and  unnoticed  visitations  of  disease.  When  a man 

b 2 


34 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


keeps  back  from  the  celebration  of  a sacrament,  calumny 
will  talk  of  his  impious  contempt  for  ordinances ; but  cal- 
umny should  assume  a milder  tone  when  it  hears  that  under 
the  death  of  a beloved  child  he  has  withdrawn  himself  to 
the  grief  of  solitude,  and  labors  under  all  the  agitations  of  a 
dark  and  disordered  melancholy.  When  a man  turns  away 
from  solicitations  of  charity,  calumny  may  say  that  it  is  the 
gripe  of  avarice ; but  calumny  should  reserve  its  sentence 
when  it  hears  that  he  is  on  the  eve  of  falling  in  the  tide  of 
bankruptcy,  and  that  he  will  surrender  the  wreck  of  his 
fortune  to  satisfy  the  higher  claims  of  justice  and  of  his 
creditors.  Ignorant  then  as  we  are  of  motives  and  of  cir- 
cumstances, we  should  learn  to  be  cautious  and  hesitating 
on  a question  of  character,  to  check  every  slanderous  and  ma- 
lignant propensity,  to  feel  how  much  is  due  to  truth  and  jus- 
tice, and  if  not  able  to  hush,  to  abhor  the  tale  of  infamy.  Let 
us  at  least  withdraw  our  countenance  from  its  propagation, 
and  blush  to  prostitute  our  testimony  to  the  unsupported 
assertions  of  a petty  and  contemptible  scandal.  What  can 
be  said  of  those  who  sit  in  close  convention  and  plot  the 
massacre  of  a virtuous  reputation,  who  delight  to  survey 
human  nature  in  its  most  odious  and  degrading  attitudes, 
who  look  with  an  exulting  eye  over  the  deformed  exhibitions 
of  vice  and  folly,  who  seem  to  feast  on  the  melancholy 
picture  of  another’s  guilt,  whose  ears  are  only  opened  to  the 
tale  of  detraction,  and  whose  mouths  are  only  opened  to 
traduce  and  to  vilify  ? If  any  thing  can  add  to  our  indig- 
nation it  is  the  midnight  and  impenetrable  secrecy  under 
which  these  proceedings  are  conducted,  the  artful  insinu- 
ations they  practice  against  him  whom  they  have  singled 
out  as  the  victim  of  their  calumny,  the  cowardly  advantages 
that  they  take  of  his  absence,  the  smile  of  affection  and 
civility  which  they  can  force  into  their  countenance,  while 
their  heart  is  brooding  over  the  most  dark  and  malignant 
purposes.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  we  may  be  guilty  of 
calumny  without  speaking  evil.  This  is  the  most  odious 
and  disgusting  of  all  calumny ; not  an  open  and  intrepid 
assertion,  but  a cowardly  insinuation,  a hint,  a sneaking 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


'Si 


indirect  artifice,  an  expression  of  regret,  a distant  allusion 
to  set  malignity  to  the  work  of  conjecture,  and  to  awaken 
the  suspicion  of  your  company.  This  is  calumny  in  fact, 
though  not  in  form.  It  is  sure  to  be  accompanied  with  all 
the  mischief  of  calumny.  It  gives  sufficient  foundation  for 
a tale  to  circulate  through  the  country,  an  impression  to  run 
through  all  the  workshops  of  scandal  in  the  neighborhood, 
a groundwork  from  which  a diseased  fancy  will  conjure  up 
its  images  of  guilt  and  of  profligacy,  a report  which,  how- 
ever trifling  in  its  commencement,  will  rise  through  suc- 
cessive additions  to  a ruinous  and  malignant  falsehood.  Let 
the  tale  of  detraction  be  listened  to  with  distrust.  Much  is 
to  be  deducted ; all  the  errors  that  gradually  creep  into 
representations  from  the  inaccuracy  of  the  careless,  or  the 
knowing  and  deliberate  fabrications  of  the  malignant;  all 
the  errors  that  proceed  from  our  ignorance  of  other  circum- 
stances by  which  the  merit  of  the  action  may  be  most 
essentially  affected ; and  above  all,  the  errors  that  proceed 
from  our  ignorance  of  the  heart,  and  of  its  secret  and  un- 
fathomable mysteries.  Such  is  the  openness  of  the  public 
ear  to  the  tale  of  detraction  that  calumny  is  too  often  suc- 
cessful even  in  her  most  base  and  unprincipled  efforts.  No 
virtue  however  exalted  can  escape  her  foul  and  pestilential 
attacks ; she  can  array  the  loveliness  of  innocence  in  the 
garb  of  infamy,  and  turn  the  scowl  of  every  eye  against  the 
most  pure  and  upright  and  gentle  of  characters.  This  is 
an  awful  combination  of  wickedness — the  combination  of 
malignity  and  falsehood — a combination  against  all  that  is 
sacred  in  truth,  and  all  that  is  endearing  in  domestic  tran- 
quillity— a combination  against  the  happiness  of  families 
and  the  peace  of  society — a combination  against  the  reign 
of  virtue  in  the  world,  and  against  the  best  comforts  which 
cheer  and  alleviate  the  lot  of  humanity. 

This  leads  me  to  the  second  head  of  discourse — The 
sufferings  which  calumny  inflicts  upon  its  unhappy  victim. 
All  are  born  to  feel  the  salutary  control  of  public  opinion. 
It  is  a most  powerful  engine  for  the  preservation  of  virtue. 
Men  will  compass  sea  and  land  to  gain  the  applause  of  their 


I 


36  THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 

countrymen.  Enough  for  them  the  reward  of  honorable 
distinction.  It  is  the  voice  of  glory  to  which  they  listen, 
and  the  voice  is  omnipotent.  It  is  to  the  inspiration  of  her 
voice  that  we  owe  all  that  is  exalted  in  patriotism,  in  war, 
In  philosophy.  For  her  the  statesman  will  bravely  maintain 
his  integrity,  and  to  be  the  man  of  the  people  he  will 
renounce  the  favor  of  princes  and  the  gains  of  a petty  am- 
bition. For  her  the  commander  will  meet  death  with  a 
fearless  countenance,  and  eye  with  intrepid  composure  the 
scenes  of  blood  and  of  violence  into  which  he  is  entering. 
For  her  the  student  sits  by  the  light  of  the  midnight  taper, 
and  in  the  animating  anticipations  of  future  eminence  can 
renounce  without  a sigh  the  charms  of  indolence  and  of 
gayety.  Even  to  the  home-bred  walks  of  life  and  of  busU 
ness  the  voice  of  glory  is  not  a stranger.  You  will  meet 
with  ambition  in  the  lowest  cottages  of  the  country.  Its 
aim  is  humble,  but  it  is  only  the  obscurity  of  circumstances 
which  restrains  it.  In  kind  and  in  character  it  is  the  same 
with  that  ambition  which  figures  to  the  eye  of  the  world  on 
a more  exalted  theater — the  same  unwearied  and  persever- 
ing constancy  in  the  prosecution  of  its  object,  the  same 
.palousy  of  reputation,  the  same  insatiable  appetite  for  ap- 
plause, the  same  triumphant  elevation  in  the  moment  of 
success,  the  same  misery  under  the  sufferings  of  disappoint- 
ment. To  see  man  it  is  not  necessary  to  traverse  all  coun- 
tries, or  to  witness  all  the  varieties  of  religion  and  govern- 
ment. It  is  not  necessary  to  step  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
little  town  or  hamlet  in  which  Providence  has  placed  you. 
You  will  meet  with  all  the  elements  of  human  character  in 
the  rustic  abodes  of  simplicity  and  nature.  You  will  there 
meet  with  that  ambition  which  if  placed  in  a higher  sphere 
would  scatter  disorder  among  the  nations,  and  strive  to 
control  the  destiny  of  empiries.  You  will  meet  with  that 
cruelty  which,  if  at  the  head  of  a victorious  army,  would 
carry  outrage  and  violence  into  the  habitations  of  the  inno- 
cent, and  kindle  in  malignant  joy  at  the  barbarity  of  war. 
You  will  meet  with  that  avarice  which,  if  elevated  to  the 
management  of  a province,  would  fill  the  country  with  tax- 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


37 


ation,  and  flourish  on  the  distress  and  poverty  of  millions. 
You  will  also  meet  with  all  the  more  virtuous  and  honorable 
propensities  of  the  mind,  with,  that  goodness  which  in  a 
higher  sphere  would  have  risen  to  an  exalted  patriotism, 
with  that  contempt  for  the  disgraceful  which  would  have 
lifted  its  voice  against  the  measures  of  a corrupt  and  de- 
generate policy,  with  that  firmness  which  would  have  with- 
stood the  frown  of  power  and  the  fury  of  popular  commo- 
tion.— But  to  return  from  this  digression.  What  in  the 
highest  stations  of  society  is  called  respect  for  the  public 
opinion,  is  in  humbler  and  more  contracted  spheres  called 
respect  for  the  opinion  of  the  neighborhood.  Respect  for 
the  opinion  of  others  is  a constant  but  irresistible  principle 
in  the  human  constitution.  To  disdain  it  is  the  boast  of  an 
affected  independence  ; it  is  an  effusion  of  vanity ; it  is  an 
idle  pretense  to  a stoical  and  romantic  elevation  of  char- 
acter. Not  a man,  I will  venture  to  say,  but  feels  his 
dependence  on  public  opinion.  Even  though  armed  with 
the  consciousness  of  integrity  he  feels  himself  compelled  to 
pay  homage  at  its  shrine.  You  will  seldom,  I may  say  you 
will  never,  meet  with  an  example  of  independence  solitary 
and  unsupported — an  independence  founded  exclusively 
upon  the  consciousness  of  virtue  and  the  silent  reflections  of 
a desolate  and  unbefriended  bosom — an  independence  that 
can  brave  the  scowl  of  every  eye  and  the  desertion  of  all 
its  acquaintances.  A man  of  firm  and  independent  energy 
will  at  times  appear  who  can  stand  before  the  eye  of  the 
world  in  the  manly  and  intrepid  attitude  of  defiance ; but  I 
contend  that  this  energy  is  supported  from  without.  It  is 
supported  by  the  testimony  of  some  selected  person  on 
whose  esteem  he  places  his  pride  and  his  enjoyment ; it  is 
supported  by  the  anticipation  of  that  day  when  the  eyes  of 
the  public  shall  be  opened  and  their  curses  converted  into 
admiration  and  gratitude  ; it  is  supported,  in  fact,  by  that 
very  respect  for  public  opinion  which  he  now  professes  to 
disown,  and  of  which  his  proceedings  would  speak  him  to 
be  totally  divested.  But  take  from  him  the  last  remnants 
of  his  friends,  take  from  him  his  last  refuge  against  the 


38 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


malignity  of  an  unthinking  world,  give  him  no  eye  of  wel- 
come to  which  he  may  retire  from  the  persecutions  of  in- 
justice, let  every  countenance  bear  hatred  against  him,  and 
let  there  be  no  voice  of  kindness  to  alleviate  the  gloom  of 
his  solitude,  he  will  fall  even  though  encompassed  with  the 
armor  of  virtue  ; the  accumulated  weight  of  infamy  will  be 
unsupportable  to  him  ; he  will  pine  away  in  the  anguish  of 
desertion,  and  welcome  the  silence  of  the  grave  as  his  only 
retreat  from  the  horrors  of  this  world’s  cruelty.  Let  the 
severity  of  the  world’s  opinion  then  be  reserved  as  the 
punishment  and  the  correction  of  vice.  But  calumny  directs 
this  severity  against  the  virtuous.  Calumny  dooms  the  up- 
right to  contempt  and  infamy.  Calumny  tramples  on  all 
distinctions  of  character,  and  makes  any  man  a victim  to 
her  malicious  artifices.  To  take  away  a good  name  is  to 
take  away  the  dearest  privilege  of  integrity.  It  is  to  take 
away  the  last  consolation  of  the  unfortunate.  It  is  to  take 
away  that  generous  pride  which  glows  even  in  the  poor 
man’s  bosom,  and  supports  the  vigor  of  his  purposes.  Ask 
him  who  has  gone  through  life,  and  felt  its  vicissitudes,  who 
has  outlived  the  wreck  of  his  circumstances,  and  is  forced 
in  the  evening  of  his  days  to  descend  to  the  humble  tene- 
ment of  poverty — he  will  tell  you  that  he  has  not  lost  all 
while  his  character  remains  to  him — that  he  still  inherits 
the  best  gift  which  providence  can  bestow — the  sympathy 
of  an  affectionate  neighborhood.  Dreary  is  the  winter  of 
his  age,  but  it  has  the  homage  of  a sincere  esteem  to  soothe 
and  to  enlighten  it.  Sad  is  the  fall  of  his  family ; but  why 
should  they  feel  themselves  degraded  ? — none  can  impeach 
their  honesty  or  attach  dishonor  to  their  name.  To  the  eye 
of  sentiment,  a man  like  this  appears  more  respectable  than 
even  in  his  better  days  of  opulence  and  comfort.  We 
venerate  the  gray  hairs  of  the  unfortunate — of  him  who 
bears  up  with  cheerfulness  against  the  hardships  which 
heaven  has  inflicted — of  him  who  retires  in  silence  and 
gives  the  remainder  of  his  years  to  peaceful  obscurity,  who 
spends  the  evening  of  his  life  in  humble  and  uncomplaining 
patience,  whom  experience  has  taught  wisdom,  and  wisdom 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


39 


has  taught  the  exalted  lessons  of  contentment  and  piety. 
To  pursue  the  unfortunate  with  calumny  is  to  give  the  last 
aggravation  to  their  sufferings.  It  is  to  make  them  poor 
indeed.  It  is  to  add  to  the  pangs  of  that  heart  that  is 
already  wrung  with  the  cruelty  of  misfortune.  It  is  remov- 
ing the  only  support  that  is  left  to  them  in  this  dark  and 
uncertain  world.  It  is  to  bestrew  with  thorns  that  weary 
journey  which  it  has  pleased  heaven  to  make  otherwise  so 
painful.  There  are  some  minds  of  peculiar  sensibility  which 
cannot  withstand  the  scowl  of  prejudice  and  disdain,  to 
whom  dislike  is  painful,  and  whose  every  joy  withers  away 
at  the  glance  of  coldness.  How  severe  to  such  is  the  rude 
touch  of  calumny  ! How  cruel  to  withdraw  the  smiles  of 
affection  from  him  whose  every  purpose  is  conceived  in  the 
spirit  of  benevolence,  to  sting  by  coarse  imputations  the 
delicacy  of  his  bosom,  to  distress  by  an  unkind  look  that 
heart  which  breathes  all  the  soul  of  goodness  and  honesty. 
To  a man  of  kind  intentions  the  frown  of  hatred  is  insup- 
portable. He  knows  that  he  does  not  deserve  it,  and  he 
feels  its  injustice.  Heaven  can  witness  his  integrity,  and  it 
is  hard  that  the  world  should  be  to  him  a wilderness,  or  that 
the  tranquillity  of  his  life  should  be  outraged  by  the  effects 
of  a malignant  calumny.  I do  not  say  that  the  world  in  its 
unkind  treatment  of  virtue  is  actuated  by  a spirit  of  wanton 
cruelty : I impute  it  to  rash  and  unthinking  ignorance ; I 
regard  it  as  a dupe  to  the  malicious  artifices  of  those  who 
have  an  interest  in  misleading  the  public  opinion,  and  in 
tarnishing  the  honors  of  an  upright  and  respectable  char- 
acter. When  the  world  is  undeceived,  it  is  ever  ready  to 
do  justice  to  those  whom  it  has  injured  by  its  opinion — to 
sympathize  with  them  in  their  unmerited  sufferings — to 
assert  the  cause  of  disgraced  and  persecuted  virtue,  and  to 
raise  the  voice  of  a generous  indignation  against  the  arts 
of  an  unfeeling  calumny.  But  how  often  does  it  happen 
that  the  world  is  never  undeceived  ; that  prejudice  has  shut 
its  ears  against  the  representations  of  the  candid  ; that  the 
remonstrances  of  the  injured  are  never  listened  to ; that 
they  are  given  to  the  wind ; that  they  are  never  heard  till 


40 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


he  reach  the  grave’s  peaceful  retreat,  and  unbosom  his  sor- 
rows to  that  heavenly  witness  who  has  seen  all  his  griefs 
and  all  his  errors  ? The  public  mind  of  every  free  country 
is  generous,  and  ready  to  award  to  the  deserving  its  tribute 
of  admiration  and  gratitude.  But  though  the  public  mind 
be  generous,  it  is  the  slave  of  prejudice  and  misconception. 
It  takes  its  tone  from  the  reigning  system  of  policy  and  of 
opinion.  In  the  hands  of  the  artful,  it  can  be  fashioned  into 
an  instrument  of  injustice,  persecution,  and  revenge.  The 
history  of  our  own  country  furnishes  innumerable  examples 
of  men  consigned  to  infamy  and  to  desertion  for  having 
uttered  a sentiment  offensive  to  the  reigning  politics  of  the 
day — for  having  given  way  to  the  warmth  of  an  honest 
enthusiasm — for  rising  in  all  the  ardor  of  an  exalted  patriot- 
ism— for  lifting  up  their  voice  and  their  testimony  against 
the  measures  of  a corrupt  and  domineering  influence.  I do 
not  say  that  when  the  public  combine  against  the  fame  or 
the  interest  of  such  a character  they  do  it  in  the  spirit  of 
malignity.  They  are  deceived.  They  are  the  dupes  of 
imposture.  A false  alarm  is  made  to  occupy  the  public  ear. 
The  ardor  of  patriotism  is  stigmatized  as  the  turbulence  of 
rebellion.  We  at  times  hear  of  men  lying  under  a cloud. 
Trace  the  ignominy  of  these  men  to  its  foundation,  and  you 
will  often  find  that  it  originates  in  a political  artifice — in  a 
cry  set  up  by  an  interested  combination  of  enemies — in  the 
unprincipled  hostility  of  the  powerful  against  an  obnoxious 
individual — in  the  virulent  and  rancorous  malignity  of  a 
domineering  party.  Examples  of  this  kind  are  not  confined 
to  the  great  theater  of  political  contention.  You  will  meet 
with  it  in  every  petty  district  .of  the  country — in  our  towns 
where  ancient  integrity  is  disgraced,  and  a putrid  elec- 
tioneering morality  deals  calumny  against  the  virtuous  ; in 
our  corporations  where  monopoly  reigns  triumphant,  and 
envy  and  interest  combine  to  crush  the  independence  of  an 
aspiring  character  ; and  in  all  those  numerous  departments 
of  life  and  of  business  where  the  eagerness  of  competition 
stirs  up  every  wicked  passion  of  the  heart,  and  throws  it 
loose  from  the  restraints  of  principle. 


THE  GUILT  OF  CALUMNY. 


41 


The  mischief  of  calumny  is  not  confined  to  the  object 
against  which  it  is  directed.  It  invades  the  peace  of  his 
family ; its  cruelty  descends  to  the  youngest  of  his  children 
who  can  blush  at  a father’s  disgrace,  or  whose  little  bosom 
can  fire  indignant  at  the  aspersion  of  a father’s  integrity. 
A parent’s  reputation  is  a sacred  inheritance.  It  reflects 
luster  on  all  his  connections.  His  children  lift  their  heads 
in  triumph  amid  the  ills  of  poverty  and  misfortune.  They 
carry  him  to  the  grave,  but  the  remembrance  of  his  example 
remains  with  them — it  proves  the  guardian  of  their  integ- 
rity ; corruption  in  vain  offers  her  allurements,  there  is  a 
principle  within  them  that  proves  at  once  their  pride  and 
their  protection — it  is  the  image  of  that  departed  father 
whom  they  study  to  emulate  and  to  admire. 


SERMON  III. 

\ 

JOHN  XIV.  1. 

“ Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled : ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.'* 

It  is  remarkable  that  all  the  images  employed  to  repre- 
sent human  life  are  significant  of  weakness,  instability,  and 
suffering — a pilgrimage,  a dark  and  toilsome  journey,  a wil- 
derness of  tears,  a scene  of  vanity,  a tale  of  which  the  re- 
membrance vanishes,  a flower  which  every  blast  of  heaven 
can  wither  into  decay.  From  the  helplessness  of  infancy 
to  the  decrepitude  of  age  the  life  of  man  is  an  endless  scene 
of  care  and  of  anxiety — at  one  time  agitated  by  the  suffer- 
ings of  a disappointed  ambition,  at  another  laboring  under 
the  infirmity  of  disease,  at  another  depressed  by  the  hard- 
ships of  society,  at  another  humbled  under  the  frown  of 
pride  and  insolence,  at  another  afflicted  by  the  awful  deso- 
lations which  death  makes  among  friends  and  among  fam- 
ilies. The  grave  is  said  to  be  a refuge  from  the  pains  and 
sufferings  of  mortality ; but  without  the  light  of  the  gospel 
how  cold  and  how  dreary  are  its  consolations — what  a dread 
uncertainty  in  the  region  which  lies  beyond  it ! The  body 
is  laid  in  the  churchyard  ; but  where  is  the  departed  spirit  ? 
The  bones  are  mingling  with  the  dust  of  the  ground ; but 
can  the  life  and  sensibility  of  the  mind  be  extinguished  ? 
The  flesh  is  a prey  to  worms ; but  will  you  say  that  intel- 
ligence can  die,  or  that  the  soul  of  man  can  wither  into 
nothing  ? Good  heavens  ! is  there  some  distant  land  to 
which  the  ghosts  of  our  fathers  repair  ? Do  they  lift  the 
voice  of  joy,  or  weep  in  gloomy  remembrance  over  the  days 
that  are  past  ? Does  felicity  reign  in  the  abode  of  spirits, 
or  do  they  mourn  that  immortality  which  condemns  them 
to  never-ending  years  of  pain  and  of  solitude  ? Is  the  con- 


THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 


43 


tinuation  of  life  on  the  other  side  of  the  grave  a continua- 
tion of  that  wretchedness  which  distresses  the  present  ex- 
istence of  mortals  ? These  are  momentous  questions  ; but 
who  is  there  to  satisfy  our  anxiety  ? No  visitation  of  light 
or  knowledge  from  the  tomb — no  midnight  whisper  of  de- 
parted friend  to  tell  us  the  secret  of  our  path  ; all  is  doubt 
and  apprehension  and  impenetrable  silence.  Our  hearts  are 
troubled  within  us,  and  seek  for  a comforter — and  a Com- 
forter hath  come ; the  day-spring  from  on  high  hath  visited 
us ; the  secrets  of  futurity  have  been  laid  open ; a celestial 
splendor  now  sits  on  the  habitations  of  darkness ; a great 
deliverer  hath  appeared,  who  is  the  healing  of  the  nations, 
and  the  salvation  of  all  the  ends  of  the  earth.  He  comes 
with  tidings  of  comfort:  “In  my  Father’s  house  are  many 
mansions.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled ; ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  me.” 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  following  discourse  I shall  at- 
tempt to  prove  that  there  is  no  trouble  to  which  the  heart 
of  man  is  exposed  that  a belief  in  the  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel is  not  calculated  to  purify  or  to  alleviate.  But  in  preach- 
ing the  consolations  of  religion  there  is  one  caution  that  can- 
not be  too  frequently  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  Chris- 
tians. These  consolations  can  only  be  addressed  to  the 
sincere — to  him  who  can  appeal  for  the  honesty  of  his  prin- 
ciples to  something  more  substantial  than  the  words  of  ho- 
liness that  drop  from  his  tongue,  or  to  the  tears  of  peniten- 
tial sorrow  that  flow  from  his  eyes — to  him  who  can  appeal 
to  the  purity  of  his  life,  to  the  integrity  of  his  bargains,  to 
his  deeds  of  active  and  disinterested  beneficence,  to  the  fair 
and  open  generosity  of  his  proceedings,  to  that  unspotted 
innocence  of  character  which  no  breath  of  suspicion  can 
defile,  no  calumny  can  impeach.  It  is  only  to  a character 
like  this  that  we  can  address  the  consolations  of  the  gospel, 
and  these  consolations  are  the  most  exalted  privilege  of 
humanity.  They  are  the  great  remedy  against  its  sufferings. 
They  give  triumph  and  elevation  to  the  wretched,  strength 
to  the  infirm,  and  comfort  to  the  bed  of  agony  and  disease. 
This  is  a world  of  tears  ; but  the  gospel  tells  us  that  he  who 


44 


THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 


soweth  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy.  It  points  out  to  us  the 
peace  of  a blessed  eternity,  and  supports  the  spirit  of  the 
afflicted  by  the  triumphant  anticipation  of  better  days. 
Many  are  the  evils  which  darken  and  distress  the  pilgrim- 
age of  the  virtuous.  But  it  is  a pilgrimage  which  leads 
them  to  heaven,  to  those  mansions  of  felicity  where  they 
shall  rest  from  their  labors,  andall  their  sorrows  be  forgot- 
ten. The  consolations  of  the  gospel  sustain  the  heart  of 
the  unfortunate  ; they  enlighten  the  last  days  of  the  old  man 
who  mourns  in  all  the  helplessness  of  age ; they  tell  him 
that  the  eye  of  his  Redeemer  is  upon  him,  and  that  He  will 
soon  translate  him  to  an  inheritance  of  unfading  joy.  The 
gospel  is  a dispensation  of  comfort.  It  is  the  good  man’s 
anchor.  It  bids  him  rejoice  even  in  the  gloomiest  hours  of 
affliction.  It  chases  despair  from  his  bosom,  and  though 
surrounded  with  all  the  dreary  vicissitudes  of  this  world, 
he  can  rise  to  the  throne  of  mercy  in  songs  of  praise  and  of 
gratitude.  Such  are  the  triumphs  of  our  Redeemer’s  love 
— such  the  debt  of  gratitude  that  man  owes  to  his  Saviour 
— to  Him  who  has  opened  the  path  to  immortality,  and 
given  the  inheritance  of  angels  to  the  frail  children  of  guilt 
and  disobedience — to  Him  who  has  cheered  the  awful  des- 
olation of  the  grave,  and  revealed  to  us  the  triumphs  of  that 
eternal  day  which  lies  beyond  it — to  Him  who  came  down 
to  earth  with  the  tidings  of  salvation,  and  taught  His  disci- 
ples to  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  upright.  Our 
Saviour  felt  the  sufferings  of  humanity,  and  He  therefore 
knew  what  consolations  to  apply.  He  felt  the  vanity  of 
this  world’s  pleasures,  and  He  secures  to  us  a treasure  in 
heaven.  He  felt  the  cruelty  of  this  world’s  hatred,  and  He 
has  propitiated  for  us  the  friendship  of  that  mighty  and  un- 
seen Being  whose  eye  is  continually  upon  us,  and  whose 
benevolence  will  never  desert  us.  He  felt  the  painful  se- 
verity of  this  world’s  injustice,  and  He  has  revealed  to  us 
a day  of  triumph  and  of  deliverance,  when  He  will  come  to 
exalt  the  upright,  and  to  vindicate  the  wrongs  of  suffering 
innocence. 

When  our  Saviour  addressed  His  disciples  in  the  words 


THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 


45 


of  the  text,  their  prospects  were  dreary  and  disconsolate. 
They  saw  enemies  multiply  on  every  side — the  storm  of 
persecution  gathering ; they  saw  the  bigotry  of  a deluded 
people  in  arms  to  oppose  them ; they  saw  their  numbers 
weakened  every  hour  by  the  desertion  of  the  people  ; they 
saw  themselves  withering  rapidly  away  into  a feeble  and 
unprotected  remnant ; they  saw  the  rulers  of  the  country 
in  fury  against  them,  and  brooding  over  their  awful  pur- 
poses of  vengeance.  Such  were  the  last  days  of  the  meek 
and  patient  Jesus — deserted  by  all  but  a chosen  few  who 
still  persevered  in  the  fidelity  of  their  attachment,  and  ral- 
lied round  to  support  Him  amid  the  storm  of  persecuting 
violence.  Yes  ! the  disciples  of  our  Saviour  have  left  us  a 
noble  example  of  friendship  and  independence.  Theirs  was 
the  pure  and  generous  intrepidity  of  the  upright.  It  was 
the  sacred  elevation  of  principle.  It  was  the  manly  and 
commanding  attitude  of  virtue.  It  was  what  I would  call 
the  sublime  of  human  character;  the  serenity  of  conscious 
rectitude ; a mind  enthroned  on  the  firm  and  immovable 
basis  of  integrity,  and  that  can  maintain  its  tranquillity  while 
tempests  rage,  and  the  blackness  of  despair  gathers  around 
it.  What  an  interesting  picture  ! — our  Saviour  surrounded 
with  the  little  band  of  disciples  that  still  remained  to  Him 
among  the  wreck  of  His  adherents,  sustaining  the  fortitude 
of  their  spirits  in  the  hour  of  terror.  O religion  ! how  sub- 
lime thy  triumphs — how  glorious  thy  victories  ! What  a 
sacred  independence  dost  thou  inspire  ! What  a noble  su- 
periority over  the  passions  and  weaknesses  of  mortality ! 
What  intrepidity  in  the  day  of  trial  and  of  danger  ! What 
calm  and  inward  elevation  even  amid  the  terrors  of  mar- 
tyrdom ! We  do  not  now  live  under  these  terrors  ; but 
there  is  no  generation  in  the^history  of  man  that  is  exempted 
from  affliction.  There  is  a sorrow  in  the  heart  of  man 
which  nothing  but  religion  can  alleviate  ; a trouble  that  can 
find  no  refuge  but  in  the  consolations  of  piety ; a disquiet- 
ude that  can  only  rest  in  the  hope  of  heaven ; a darkness 
which  can  find  no  relief  but  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel  and 
in  the  light  of  our  Redeemer’s  countenance. 


46 


THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 


Let  me  confine  myself  to  a few  of  the  more  striking  ex 
am  pies  from  the  catalogue  of  human  afflictions.  There  it 
the  infirmity  of  disease — a sickness  which  all  the  adminis 
tration  of  earthly  medicine  cannot  alleviate  ; a disorder  that 
bears  down  upon  its  unhappy  victim,  and  carries  him  through 
years  of  pain  and  of  languishing  to  the  grave  of  silence. 
There  are  some  into  whose  gloomy  chambers  the  light  of 
day  never  enters ; who  moan  out  a dreary  existence  in  the 
agony  of  distress ; on  whom  the  hand  of  Providence  lies 
heavy,  and  whom  disease  in  the  severity  of  her  visitations 
has  numbered  among  the  children  of  the  wretched.  What 
an  aggravation  to  the  miseries  of  such  a state  when  it  is 
embittered  by  the  hardships  of  poverty;  when  the  man  of 
sickness  can  meet  with  no  cordial  to  sustain  him,  and  no 
attendance  to  administer  to  his  necessities ; when  he  has 
nothing  to  trust  to  but  the  reluctant  charity  of  a neighbor 
whom  decency  has  compelled  to  come  forward  with  the 
offering  of  his  services ; when  he  lies  stretched  on  a bed  of 
restlessness  with  no  child  to  weep  over  him — no  friend  to 
support  him  in  the  last  hours  of  his  pilgrimage — surely  you 
will  say  such  a man  is  born  to  an  inheritance  of  melancholy 
and  despair.  But  there  is  no  melancholy  which  the  religion 
of  Jesus  cannot  enlighten : no  despair  which  His  consola- 
tory voice  cannot  revive  into  confidence  and  joy.  Chris- 
tianity is  ever  present  to  soothe  the  agonies  of  the  wretch- 
ed ; and  in  the  last  struggles  of  the  dying  man  you  may  see 
ihe  picture  of  its  triumph.  He  sees  death  approach  him 
with  an  untroubled  heart.  He  believes  in  God,  and  he  be- 
lieves in  Jesus  His  messenger.  The  grave  is  to  him  a 
refuge  from  suffering,  and  the  passport  to  a triumphant  im- 
mortality. To  him  the  silence  of  the  tomb  is  welcome. 
He  lies  down  in  quietness,  but  he  will  again  awaken  to  the 
light  of  an  everlasting  day. 

Another  example  of  trouble  and  distress  in  the  history  of 
man  is  the  treachery  and  injustice  of  neighbors.  In  preach- 
ing the  consolations  of  religion  it  is  a most  unprofitable  dis- 
play of  eloquence  to  dwell  upon  scenes  of  romantic  and 
imaginary  distress.  Such  pictures  as  those  are  the  mere 


THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 


47 


amusements  of  a poetical  fancy,  and  can  serve  no  substan- 
tial purpose  of  comfort  or  instruction.  If  we  wish  religion 
to  be  useful,  we  must  dwell  on  its  application  to  actual 
and  everyday  occurrences.  We  must  descend  to  all  the 
realities  of  human  life.  We  must  accompany  our  hearers 
into  their  houses,  their  families,  and  their  business.  We 
must  make  them  feel  that  religion  is  something  more  than 
the  dream  of  fanaticism,  or  the  idle  abstraction  of  a vision- 
ary. We  must  make  them  feel  its  weight  and  its  import- 
ance, and  shrink  from  no  familiarity  however  unwarranted 
by  the  example  of  our  great  patterns  and  directors  in  pul- 
pit eloquence,  or  however  offensive  to  the  pride  of  a mor- 
bid and  fastidious  delicacy.  Any  other  views  of  religion 
are  vain  and  unprofitable.  They  only  serve  to  disguise 
the  human  character,  and  to  throw  a false  and  delusive 
coloring  over  the  walks  of  life.  They  resemble  those  works 
of  fiction  which  may  give  delight  and  entertainment  to  the 
fancy,  or  amuse  the  reader  by  the  splendors  of  an  orna- 
mental eloquence,  while  they  leave  no  lesson  behind  them, 
and  can  be  transferred  to  no  purpose  of  substantial  im- 
provement. It  is  under  these  impressions  that  I bring  for- 
ward the  injustice  of  neighbors  as  standing  high  in  the  cat- 
alogue of  human  afflictions.  We  have  all  felt  it  to  be  of 
real  and  frequent  occurrence,  and  it  is  certainly  one  of  the 
most  painful  feelings  to  which  you  can  expose  a mind  of 
pure  and  delicate  integrity.  I know  nothing  more  calcu- 
lated to  provoke  the  indignation  of  an  honest  mind  than  to 
see  the  simplicity  of  an  upright  character  surrounded  by 
the  low  arts  of  knavery  and  imposition — trampled  upon  by 
the  villainy  of  those  whom  gratitude  ought  to  have  secured 
to  his  interest — laughed  at  and  insulted  because  he  has  too 
little  suspicion  to  guard  against  the  tricks  of  a sneaking 
duplicity,  and  too  much  generosity  to  distrust  that  man 
who  comes  to  him  under  the  disguise  of  smooth  words  and 
an  open  countenance.  The  loss  which  the  injured  man 
sustains  from  the  injustice  of  his  neighbor  forms  but  a small 
part  of  his  vexation.  When  a loss  is  the  pure  effect  of  ac- 
cident or  misfortune,  it  may  not  deprive  us  of  a moment’s 


48 


THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 


sleep,  or  cost  us  a moment’s  uneasiness.  But  when  the 
same  or  an  inferior  loss  is  the  effect  of  injustice,  it  comes 
home  to  the  feelings  with  a severity  which  to  some  minds 
is  most  painfully  tormenting.  The  loss  is  of  little  import- 
ance ; but  who  can  bear  to  have  the  generosity  of  an  open 
and  unsuspecting  confidence  insulted — who  can  bear  to  be 
surrounded  with  falsehood,  artifice,  and  intrigue — who  can 
bear  that  most  grievous  of  all  disappointments,  the  treach- 
ery of  one  who  has  practiced  on  our  simplicity,  and  on 
whose  integrity  we  placed  a fond  and  implicit  reliance — 
who  can  bear  to  be  placed  in  a theater  where  malignity 
and  injustice  are  in  arms  against  us,  where  we  can  meet 
with  no  affection  to  enlighten  the  solitude  of  our  bosom,  no 
friendship  in  which  to  repose  the  defense  of  our  reputation 
and  interest  ? To  a man  whose  heart  rises  in  all  the  warmth 
of  affectionate  sincerity  the  treachery  of  violated  friend- 
ship is  insupportable.  He  feels  himself  placed  in  a wilder- 
ness where  all  is  dark,  and  cheerless,  and  solitary.  He 
resigns  himself  to  all  the  horrors  of  a disordered  melan- 
choly, and  his  spirit  sinks  within  him  under  the  reflection 
of  this  world’s  injustice.  But  let  not  his  heart  be  troubled, 
he  has  a friend  in  heaven.  The  Eternal  Son  of  God  will 
never  desert  him.  The  angels  of  mercy  smile  upon  his 
footsteps,  and  hail  his  approach  to  their  peaceful  mansions. 
There  charity  never  ends.  There  he  will  celebrate  in  songs 
of  triumph  the  joys  of  truth  and  of  righteousness.  He  will 
inherit  the  affection  of  the  good,  and  join  in  those  eternal 
prayers  which  rise  to  the  throne  of  mercy  from  one  blessed 
and  united  family. 

Another  example  of  trouble  and  distress  in  the  history 
of  man  is  that  anxiety  which  every  parent  must  feel  under 
the  embarrassment  of  a numerous  and  unprovided  offspring. 
He  has  much  to  care  for.  This  is  a world  of  vice,  and 
disease,  and  misfortune.  The  death  of  a child  may  bring 
affliction,  but  what  is  worse,  the  corruption  of  a child  may 
bring  infamy  and  disgrace  upon  his  family.  The  love  of 
parents  never  leaves  their  children.  From  the  cry  of  feeble 
infancy  to  the  strength  and  the  independence  of  manhood, 


THE  TROUBLED  HEART  COMFORTED. 


49 


it  follows  after  them,  and  shares  in  all  their  joys  and  in  all 
their  anxieties.  They  go  abroad  into  the  world,  and  the 
hearts  of  their  parents  go  abroad  along  with  them.  The 
warmth  of  a mother’s  affection  can  never  desert  them : she 
hears  the  howling  of  the  midnight  storm,  and  prays  that 
Heaven  would  watch  over  the  safety  of  her  children. 
Happy  the  day  of  their  return,  when  the  old  man  gets  his 
sons  and  his  daughters  around  him.  They  are  his  staff  in 
the  years  of  his  infirmity.  Sweet  to  his  soul  is  the  hour  of 
family  devotion — when  he  rises  in  gratitude  to  heaven  for 
giving  peace  to  his  last  days — when  he  prays  God  that 
He  would  take  care  of  his  children,  that  they  may  live  to 
carry  him  to  the  burial-place  of  his  fathers,  and  that  they 
may  all  rise  again  to  rejoice  for  ever  in  our  Redeemer’s 
kingdom. 

“ Then  kneeling  down  to  heaven’s  eternal  King — 

The  Saint,  the  Father,  and  the  husband  prays; 

Hope  springs  exulting  on  triumphant  wing, 

That  thus  they  all  shall  meet  in  better  days.” 

VOL.  VI. C 


SERMON  IV. 

[The  latter  months  of  Dr.  Chalmers’  connection  with  Cavers  were  en 
grossed  with  the  preparations  for  the  ensuing  winter,  during  which  he  taught 
the  Mathematical  Classes  in  the  University  of  St.  Andrews.  These  prepara- 
tions, and  perhaps  also  the  hurry  of  separation,  have  left  evident  marks  of 
haste  upon  this  farewell  discourse.  The  reader,  besides,  will  notice  that  in 
two  instances  an  “ &c.”  is  placed  at  the  end  of  a paragraph.  This  mark  fre- 
quently occurs  in  the  manuscript  of  the  earlier  sermons,  indicating  the  inser- 
tion at  the  time  of  delivery  of  some  favorite  passage  previously  written  and 
committed  to  memory.  A sermon  so  hurriedly  written,  so  incomplete,  and 
so  fragmentary  as  that  which  follows,  should  not  have  been  inserted  had  it 
not  been  that  a comparison  of  its  closing  address,  with  the  other  farewell 
discourses  given  in  this  volume,  promotes  so  largely  one  of  the  leading  pur- 
poses of  the  present  publication.] 

TITUS  I.  1. 

“Paul,  a servant  of  God,  and  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  faith  of  God’s 
elect,  and  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth  which  is  after  godliness.” 

It  has  been  insinuated  to  the  prejudice  of  our  religion, 
that  its  effects  are  far  from  corresponding  with  the  magni- 
ficent anticipations  of  its  first  founders.  They  predicted 
that  in  the  establishment  of  Christianity  we  would  enjoy 
the  reign  of  benevolence  and  peace.  But  let  us  survey  the 
broad  aspect  of  the  world  and  its  inhabitants — the  ambition 
which  involves  it  in  the  miseries  of  war — the  selfishness 
which  is  unmoved  by  the  plaintive  cry  of  distress — the  de- 
ceit which  fills  the  earth  with  the  exclamations  of  the  injured 
— the  cruelty  which  feasts  on  spectacles  of  pain — the  licen- 
tiousness which  degenerates  a people,  as  it  withers  the  graces 
of  youthful  modesty — the  superstition  which  in  its  groveling 
subjection  to  externals  deserts  the  manly  and  respectable 
virtues  of  social  life — surely  wickedness  aboundeth  in  the 
land,  and  the  cry  thereof  ascendeth  unto  heaven.  Are 
these  the  boasted  effects  of  religion — of  that  religion  which 
was  to  extend  through  the'  world  the  triumphs  of  truth  and 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  CAVERS.  51 

virtue — of  that  religion  which  announced  peace  on  earth 
and  good-will  to  the  children  of  men ; and  which  promised 
to  unite  the  world  into  one  family  by  the  sacred  law  of 
love?  For  what  purpose  that  illustrious  succession  of 
prophets  who  appeared  to  alleviate  the  gloom  and  ignorance 
of  antiquity  ? For  what  purpose  did  the  Son  of  God  descend 
from  the  celestial  abodes  of  love  and  of  virtue — live  amid 
the  sufferings  of  persecution  and  injustice,  and  die  a martyr 
to  that  cause  He  had  so  nobly  defended  ? Even  now,  though 
we  possess  the  sacred  treasure  of  His  instructions — though 
refined  by  all  the  improvements  of  art — though  educated  in 
all  the  wisdom  of  the  ancients — even  now  we  exhibit  the 
vices  which  disgraced  an  age  of  ignorance  and  barbarity. 
To  palliate,  however,  the  enormity  of  the  picture,  it  may  be 
urged  that  the  most  important  effects  of  Christianity  are 
from  their  nature  invisible,  while  the  prominent  features  of 
vice  must  strike  the  observation  of  the  most  superficial  and 
indifferent.  Vice  stalks  abroad,  and  exposes  its  shameless 
forehead  in  the  face  of  day.  It  attracts  attention  by  the 
glaring  deformity  of  its  character — by  the  tumultuous  dis- 
order it  creates  in  society — by  the  outcry  of  those  whom  it 
injures — by  the  transitory  splendor  of  its  career — and  by 
the  disgraceful  ignominy  of  its  fall.  Virtue  seeks  the  shade ; 
it  shrinks  from  applause ; it  delights  in  peaceful,  unostenta- 
tious retirement.  To  find  virtue  we  must  seek  for  it,  because 
it  shuns  observation.  Virtue  is  humble  and  unambitious  of 
praise ; it  doeth  good  in  secret ; it  is  content  with  the  grat- 
itude of  those  orphans  whom  it  shelters — of  those  aged  to 
whose  sickness  it  administers — of  that  family  whom  it  res- 
cues from  want.  It  seeks  something  nobler  than  the  ap- 
plause of  men.  Amid  the  sufferings  of  contempt  and  in- 
justice it  is  supported  by  the  testimony  of  its  own  conscience, 
and  by  the  prospect  of  that  day  when  it  shall  be  restored  to 
its  honors  and  invested  with  the  glories  of  an  immortal  crown. 

But  though  these  considerations  may  seem  in  part  to 
alleviate  the  darkness  of  the  picture,  and  to  console  our 
feelings  amid  the  multiplied  displays  of  human  vice,  yet 
truth  and  justice  force  us  to  proclaim  the  affecting  deprav- 


52 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  CAVERS. 


ity  of  man.  The  more  we  extend  our  acquaintance  with 
human  life,  the  more  we  see  of  villainy  in  all  its  varieties. 
Here  one  feasting  on  the  spoils  of  injustice  and  oppression 
— there  another  plotting  his  wiles  of  seduction ; here  one 
under  the  mask  of  friendship  broods  over  dark  and  deceit- 
ful intentions — there  another  disguises  the  vices  of  his  char- 
acter in  the  parade  and  solemnity  of  religious  observances ; 
here  parents  living  on  the  infamy  of  their  children — there 
children  afflicting  the  old  age  of  their  parents  by  their  in- 
gratitude. Who  can  enumerate  the  endless  varieties  of 
human  guilt?  Now  envy  sickens  at  the  prospect  of  an- 
other’s bliss — now  calumny  delights  to  spread  its  insidious 
poison — now  licentiousness  grovels  in  the  low  haunts  of 
pollution — now  cruelty  rejoices  in  the  crash  of  families. 
Yes,  we  have  often  heard  the  instructors  of  religion  re 
proached  for  their  sloth  and  indifference ; but  let  critics 
remember  that  the  scanty  produce  of  the  harvest  may  be 
imputed  to  the  unmanageable  nature  of  the  soil  as  well  as 
to  the  indolence  of  the  husbandman ; let  them  remember 
that  the  great  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  religion  exist 
among  themselves  ; in  the  perverseness  of  their  own  char- 
acter ; in  the  restraints  which  their  prejudices  impose  upon 
the  efforts  of  pure  and  enlightened  teachers  ; in  their  deter- 
mined opposition  to  the  practical  and  improving  part  of 
Christianity ; in  the  baneful  influence  of  that  spurious  and 
perverted  orthodoxy  which  silences  the  remonstrances  of 
conscience,  and  gives  impunity  to  guilt.  The  business  of  a 
Christian  minister  is  to  hold  up  vice  to  infamy,  and  to  de- 
nounce the  thunders  of  heaven  on  the  presumptuous.  He 
should  tremble  to  prostitute  the  honors  of  his  Master’s  name 
by  employing  it  to  charm  the  wicked  into  security,  and  to 
save  them  from  the  troublesome  restrictions  of  duty.  He 
should  scorn  to  lower  the  dignity  of  the  pulpit  by  converting 
it  into  a vehicle  of  licentious  instruction ; and  for  whom  ? 
- — to  please  the  vilest  and  the  meanest  of  mankind.  He 
should  impress  upon  their  feelings  that  all  the  parade  of 
external  ordinances  will  not  save  the  presumptuously  wicked 
from  the  horrors  of  their  impending  punishment.  No ; 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  CAVERS. 


53 


let  them  strive  to  get  to  heaven  as  they  may  by  their  punc- 
tualities and  their  externals — let  them  sit  at  the  table  of  the 
Lord — let  them  drink  of  that  wine  which  is  the  symbol  of 
a Redeemer’s  blood — all  their  sighs  and  tears  and  heav- 
enly aspirations  will  avail  them  nothing  while  they  retain 
the  deceitful  malignity  of  their  characters.  No  ; the  super- 
natural charms  they  ascribe  to  the  sacramental  cup  will  no 
more  avail  than  the  spells  of  conjurors  or  the  delusions  of 
witchcraft.  They  may  eat  and  drink  and  retire  from  the 
ordinance  of  the  Supper  with  the  deceitful  assurance  of  the 
Almighty’s  favor ; but  tremble,  O hypocrites,  you  have 
drunk  the  poison  of  the  soul ; you  have  tasted  the  seeds  of 
disease  and  death  and  everlasting  destruction,  &c. 

However  much  the  Church  of  Scotland  may  have  suf- 
fered from  the  contempt  and  censure  of  its  adversaries,  there 
is  one  part  of  its  constitution  which  will  ever  be  admired  by 
those  who  entertain  a sincere  and  enlightened  attachment 
to  religion — that  which  ensures  the  independent  provision 
of  its  ministers.  When  a teacher  of  religion  derives  his 
support  from  the  spontaneous  liberality  of  that  congrega- 
tion over  which  he  presides,  the  chief  care  of  his  heart  is 
often  to  please  and  not  to  instruct  them — to  flatter  the  vices 
of  the  rich,  because  he  has  much  to  expect  from  their  bounty 
— to  flatter  the  vices  of  the  poor,  because  they  compensate 
by  their  numbers  for  the  smallness  of  their  individual  con- 
tributions. What  can  be  expected  from  the  efforts  of  an 
instructor  fettered  as  he  is  by  such  shameful  and  humiliating 
restraints  ? It  is  in  vain  to  look  to  him  as  the  dignified  and 
intrepid  champion  of  pure  Christianity ; it  is  vain  to  hope 
that  through  his  manly  and  disinterested  efforts  we  shall 
behold  the  downfall  of  those  corruptions  which  were  grafted 
on  the  religion  of  Jesus  in  the  dark  ages  of  superstition. 
His  instructions  will  not  dispel  prejudices  but  confirm  them; 
will  not  correct  the  prevailing  vices  of  sentiment  but  per- 
petuate the  reign  of  ignorance  and  error,  &c. 

On  terminating  the  short  career  of  my  labors  as  your 
religious  instructor,  it  is  natural  to  inquire  what  has  been 
accomplished.  We  refer  the  answer  to  your  own  hearts. 


54 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  CAVERS. 


It  will  be  declared  in  your  future  conduct  and  conversation. 
Much  must  have  been  imperfectly  understood,  much  has 
been  forgotten,  much  may  have  excited  a momentary  im- 
pression of  goodness,  but  an  impression  which  has  now  been 
effaced  amid  the  bustle  and  temptations  of  the  world.  Some 
we  hope  may  have  produced  the  fruits  of  righteousness  and 
life  everlasting.  Have  virtuous  resolutions  been  confirmed  ? 
Has  guilt  been  appalled  in  its  career  ? Has  the  despair  of 
the  penitent  been  revived  to  confidence  and  joy  ? Has  the 
gloom  of  affliction  been  brightened  by  the  consoling  pros- 
pects of  immortality?  Have  the  instructions  you  have 
heard  been  useful  in  protecting  the  young  and  inexperienced 
from  the  dangers  of  an  ensnaring  example,  and  from  the 
artifices  of  an  intriguing  villainy  ? Have  they  been  useful 
in  alarming  the  careless  indifference  of  parents  to  the  moral 
and  religious  education  of  their  offspring,  and  in  teaching 
children  to  respect  the  authority  of  age  ? Have  they  been 
useful  in  humbling  the  pride  of  oppression,  in  exposing  to 
contempt  the  infamy  of  falsehood,  in  detecting  the  baseness 
of  calumny,  or  in  impressing  the  terrors  of  vengeance  on 
the  determined  impenitence  of  guilt?  Have  they  been 
useful  in  alarming  the  impious  security  of  the  wicked,  in 
teaching  them  that  all  creeds  and  all  ordinances  are  unable 
to  shelter  them  from  judgment,  and  that  their  only  refuge 
is  a sincere  and  effectual  repentance?  Have  they  been 
useful  in  inspiring  gratitude  to  Him  who  for  our  sakes  lived 
a life  of  suffering  and  died  a death  of  ignominy,  whose 
morality  has  improved  and  adorned  the  face  of  society,  and 
whose  doctrines  have  ennobled  the  existence  of  man  by 
unfolding  to  him  the  prospects  of  his  immortal  destiny? 
These  are  triumphs  more  ennobling  to  the  teacher  of  virtue 
than  all  the  splendor  of  opulence,  or  than  all  the  authority 
of  power.  They  will  support  his  footsteps  amid  the  storms 
of  this  dreary  and  tempestuous  world : they  will  cheer  the 
gloomy  desolation  of  age,  and  be  a sweet  remembrance  in 
the  hour  of  death. 

Let  our  last  words  be  those  of  tenderness  and  affection 
Let  our  parting  admonition  be  reserved  as  the  legacy  of 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  CAVERS. 


55 


friendship.  You  are  in  a world  of  care  and  suffering — now 
laboring  under  the  embarrassments  of  poverty,  now  afflicted 
with  the  disgrace  and  ingratitude  of  children,  now  pining  in 
the  infirmity  of  disease,  and  now  oppressed  by  the  insolence 
of  power.  Hold  fast  to  religion.  It  will  console  you  amid 
the  ills  and  perplexities  of  life  ; it  will  be  unto  you  as  the 
shadow  of  a great  rock  in  a weary  land ; it  will  bless  you 
in  the  evening  of  your  days,  and  conduct  you  to  the  glories 
of  an  eternal  world. 


August,  28,  1802. 


SERMON  V. 

[I  am  indebted  for  the  following  sermon  to  David  Gillespie,  Esq.  of  Mount- 
quhannie.  His  father  was  one  of  the  principal  heritors  in  the  parish  of  Kil- 
many,  and  many  memorials  survive  at  once  of  his  early  appreciation  of  the 
character  and  talents  of.  his  minister,  and  of  Dr.  Chalmers’  gratqful  sense  at 
the  time,  and  affectionate  remembrances  ever  afterward,  of  the  kind  atten- 
tions of  his  heritor.  It  could  not  have  been  possible  for  any  one  to  have 
listened  to  this  sermon  without  emotion.  There  were  chords  in  the  heart 
of  its  humblest  hearer  which  it  must  have  caused  thrillingly  to  vibrate.  But 
Mr.  Gillespie  was  one  of  the  very  few  hearers  of  it  who  could  estimate  its 
literary  merits.  Struck  with  these,  he  solicited  a copy  of  it — the  only  one 
now  remaining,  the  original  not  having  been  preserved.  It  fixes  its  own 
date : reference  occurs  in  it  to  the  Thanksgiving  Day  which,  in  the  summer 
of  the  preceding  year,  was  appointed  to  be  observed  in  acknowledgment  of 
the  general  peace  secured  by  the  treaty  of  Amiens.  That  treaty  was  signed 
in  March,  1802.  The  war  broke  out  again  in  May  1803,  and  Thursday,  the 
20th  day  of  the  October  following,  was,  by  public  appointment,  observed 
throughout  Scotland  as  a Fast-day,  not  only  on  account  of  the  renewal  of 
hostilities  between  this  country  and  France,  but  mainly  because  of  that 
threat  of  invasion  which  Bonaparte  hung  over  England,  and  by  which  the 
heart  of  the  whole  island  was  convulsed.  It  must  have  been  upon  this  oc- 
casion— only  a few  months,  therefore,  after  Dr.  Chalmers’  settlement  at 
Kilmany — that  this  sermon  was  preached.] 


PSALM  XXVII.  3. 

•l  Though  an  host  should  encamp  against  me,  my  heart  shall  not  fear ; though  war  should 
rise  against  me,  in  this  will  I be  confident.” 

It  is  not  my  object  to  enter  into  any  political  discussion. 
The  situation  of  the  country  is,  I believe,  forced  upon  us 
by  the  necessity  of  circumstances.  It  is  a situation  from 
which  the  most  sincere  and  anxious  efforts  of  Government 
could  not  have  relieved  us.  It  is  a situation  which  I as- 
cribe to  no  misconduct  of  Ministers — to  no  want  of  vigor 
or  of  sincerity — to  no  injurious  encroachment  on  our  part 
on  the  rights  and  privileges  of  other  countries.  It  is  a 
situation  which  I ascribe  to  the  insolence  of  a haughty  and 
resentful  ambition — of  an  ambition  which  no  sacrifice  can 


FAST-DAY  SERMON. 


57 


appease — of  an  ambition  which  grasps  at  universal  empire, 
and  threatens  to  erect  its  throne  over  the  prostrated  liber- 
ties of  Europe.  At  all  events,  it  is  a situation  to  be  de- 
plored. Our  own  country  may  become  the  theater  of 
blood  and  of  violence.  The  widows  and  orphans  of  the 
slain  may  attest  the  numbers  who  have  fallen  in  the  cause 
of  patriotism.  Think  not  that  the  voice  of  pity  will  soften 
the  destructive  career  of  the  invader.  You  have  nothing 
to  expect  from  the  cannibal  banditti  of  France : they  have 
breasts  of  iron ; they  are  hot  from  the  plunder  of  other 
countries;  they  are  trained  to  carnage  and  desolation;  they 
have  been  taught  to  rejoice  in  the  outcry  of  massacre,  and 
to  fly  like  bloodhounds  to  those  towns  and  villages  which 
their  generals  may  have  marked  out  for  destruction. 

A year  is  scarcely  elapsed  since  we  were  called  upon  to 
commemorate  an  event  of  such  grand  and  obvious  import- 
ance— so  eminently  conducive  to  the  interests  of  millions 
that  the  friends  of  humanity  rejoiced,  and  Christians  sent 
up  to  the  throne  of  mercy  their  acclamations  of  gratitude, 
and  in  the  transports  of  a patriotic  enthusiasm  forgot  the 
interests  and  the  virulence  of  party.  Such  .was  the  event 
we  had  then  to  commemorate — not  the  delusive  splendors 
of  victory — not  the  phantom  of  national  glory  which  serves 
to  dazzle  but  not  to  exhilarate — not  the  glare  and  triumph 
of  conquest  to  amuse  a giddy  and  unthinking  multitude. 
It  was  something  more  substantial — more  felt  in  its  opera- 
tion on  the  interests  of  the  country — more  diffusive  of  its 
benefits  through  the  walks  of  life  and  of  business — more 
joyous  to  homes  and  to  families.  It  was  the  re-establish- 
ment of  peace  among  the  nations.  It  was  a respite  from 
those  evils  which  had  desolated  the  unhappy  regions  of 
Europe.  It  was  an  end  to  the  calamities  of  war,  and  to  the 
restless  anxiety  of  parents  and  of  friends,  who  implored  the 
protecting  hand  of  Providence  over  the  scenes  of  danger. 
In  describing  the  miseries  of  war,  shall  I present  to  your 
imaginations  scenes  to  which  Britain  has  long  been  a 
stranger ; contending  armies  met  upon  the  awful  work  of 
death;  men  unknown  to  each  other  bent  upon  mutual 

c# 


58 


FRENCH  INVASION. 


destruction ; the  earth  bathed  in  the  blood  of  thousands ; 
and  the  cries  of  the  wounded  mingling  with  the  shouts  and 
the  exultation  of  victory?  Shall  we  walk  over  the  fields 
of  the  slain,  and  survey  the  victims  of  a lawless  ambition  ? 
One  whom  the  romantic  visions  of  glory  had  allured  from 
the  house  of  his  fathers  ; who  had  resigned  all  the  comforts 
and  endearments  of  home  at  the  call  of  honor : his  career 
is  run ; no  more  shall  he  gladden  the  hearts  of  his  friends 
by  the  tidings  of  his  welfare.  Heedless  of  the  event,  they 
cherish  the  fond  hope  of  his  return ; but  he  has  breathed 
his  last  afar  from  the  abode  of  his  infancy,  without  a friend 
to  soothe  his  departure,  or  to  protect  his  expiring  moments 
from  the  cold  blasts  of  midnight.  Who  can  detail  the  pains 
and  sufferings  of  a military  life : now  surrounded  with  the 
infection  of  an  hospital ; now  pining  in  the  famine  of  a 
siege ; now  tossed  on  the  fury  of  the  tempest ; now  Ian 
guishing  in  the  solitude  of  a prison  ? Who  does  not  shud- 
der at  the  destructive  progress  of  an  invading  army? 
Galled  with  difficulties,  inflamed  with  resistance,  aroused 
by  the  blood  of  their  fellow-companions  to  the  stern  pur- 
pose of  revenge.  Nor  age  can  disarm  their  fury,  nor 
beauty  arrest  their  violence.  The  sword  spreads  its  deso- 
lations among  the  families ; the  land  is  filled  with  the  houses 
of  mourning  ; the  sounds  of  joy  are  for  years  extinguished, 
and  the  seats  of  industry  converted  into  the  abodes  of 
silence  and  grief. 

We  are  not  yet  relieved  from  these  fearful  apprehensions. 
The  haughty  and  uncontrollable  despot  of  France  has  not 
agreed  to  suspend  his  ambition,  or  to  cease  from  troubling 
the  repose  of  mankind.  The  nations  of  Europe  hailed  the 
approaching  steps  of  peace  with  the  acclamations  of  trans- 
port ; but  they  have  scarce  had  time  to  breathe  from  the 
toils  and  the  fury  of  contention.  The  dire  effusion  of  human 
blood  has  not  been  able  to  restrain  the  insolence  of  power 
— to  control  the  vindictive  fury  of  war — or  to  humble  the 
lofty  pride  of  ambition.  But  it  is  an  ambition  which  shall 
not  prevail.  We  trust  in  the  unanimous  resistance  of  a 
great  and  a high-spirited  country.  We  trust  in  the  integ- 


FAST-DAY  SERMON. 


59 


rity  of  our  cause.  We  trust  in  the  valor  of  our  country- 
men : they  will  not  fear  to  die  in  the  animating  cause  of 
patriotism.  We  trust  in  the  wisdom  of  our  statesmen ; they 
will  blow  the  trumpet  of  war  with  the  voice  of  irresistible 
eloquence.  We  trust  in  the  skill  of  our  commanders;  they 
will  inspire  us  with  confidence,  and  lead  us  on  to  emulation 
and  to  victory. 

The  best  security  that  a government  can  enjoy  is  in  the 
hearts  and  sentiments  of  the  people.  In  this  point  of  view 
our  situation  is  not  so  alarming  as  it  was  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  French  Revolution.  An  unbridled  licentious- 
ness of  principle  threatened  the  order  and  the  security  ol 
social  life.  A perverted  system  of  morality  went  far  to 
exterminate  the  reign  of  justice.  A contempt  for  the  sacred 
institution  of  religion  hardened  the  sensibilities  against  every 
amiable  and  tender  impression.  But  experience  has  at 
length  dispelled  the  magic  of  speculation.  Its  votaries  have 
been  forced,  though  with  reluctance,  to  acknowledge  that 
the  delusions  of  fancy  had  led  them  astray,  and  that  they 
erred  in  denouncing  those  virtues  which  have  supported 
the  prosperity  of  ages.  Even  the  enlightened  philosophers 
of  the  modern  school  look  back  on  the  extravagance  of  their 
former  principles  as  the  inexperience  of  enthusiasm  and  fol- 
ly, and  are  heard  to  revere  the  home-bred  maxims  of  their 
forefathers,  though  unaccompanied  with  the  charms  of  nov- 
elty, the  splendor  of  eloquence,  or  the  magnificence  of 
system. 

From  the  recollection  of  past  scenes  there  is  a lesson  we 
would  wish  to  impress  on  all  countries  and  on  all  people — 
a lesson  recommended  by  the  awful  sanction  of  experience 
— a lesson  written  in  the  blood  of  thousands ; the  danger 
of  heedless  innovation,  the  fury  of  an  irritated  populace, 
though  originally  excited  by  the  best  of  motives,  and  direct- 
ed to  the  best  of  purposes.  Who  is  there  so  seduced  by  the 
hypocrisy  of  profession  as  to  look  back  with  an  approving 
eye  on  the  whole  progress  of  the  French  Revolution — on 
the  disgraceful  scenes  of  cruelty  which  were  conducted 
under  the  semblance  of  patriotism  and  public  zeal — on  that 


60 


FRENCH  INVASION. 


murderous  spirit  which  actuated  the  rulers,  and  expended 
its  fury  on  the  innocent  victims  of  injustice  ? Who  is  there 
so  deluded  by  the  modern  systems  of  virtue  as  to  suppress 
his  abhorrence  at  their  flagrant  violations  of  truth,  at  their 
wanton  invasion  of  a harmless  and  unresisting  people,  at 
that  refined  insincerity  of  character  which,  amid  the  praises 
of  liberty,  and  the  ardent  declamations  of  humanity  and 
feeling,  is  directing  all  its  efforts  against  the  independence 
of  an  outraged  country  ? Alas  ! how  much  they  have  suf- 
fered, and  how  far  they  are  behind  us  in  all  that  conduces 
to  the  substantial  prosperity  of  a nation : in  stability  of 
government,  in  the  purity  of  its  justice,  in  a quick  and  en- 
lightened impression  of  the  rights  of  man,  in  the  energy  of 
the  public  voice,  and  in  contempt  for  oppression.  In  the 
pure  administration  of  justice,  in  the  progress  of  sentiment 
and  character,  in  the  individual  reformation  of  a people,  we 
discover  a more  substantial  security  against  the  infringe- 
ments of  rights,  than  in  all  the  parade  of  constitutions,  and 
in  all  the  mockery  of  forms.  Why  fight  for  a republic— 
since  the  insolence  of  power  will  ever  be  able  to  establish 
the  reign  of  despotism  over  a timid  and  an  ignorant  people, 
and  all  the  authority  of  laws  will  be  unable  to  restrain  it. 
Why  rejoice  in  the  blood  of  kings — since  a watchful  and 
enlightened  public  will  ever  restrain  the  abuses  of  power, 
though  emblazoned  in  all  the  splendor  of  titles,  and  sup- 
ported by  all  the  jurisprudence  of  antiquity.  Let  us  never 
despair  of  the  future  improvement  of  mankind;  let  us  never 
relax  in  our  efforts  to  hasten  the  reign  of  perfection.  But 
let  us  direct  these  efforts  aright;  not  by  instruments  of 
violence,  not  by  arousing  the  fury  of  a vindictive  and  as 
yet  unenlightened  populace,  not  by  infringing  on  the  sacred 
rights  of  property,  not  by  trampling  on  the  distinctions  of 
rank.  There  is  a certain  point  in  the  progress  of  national 
improvement  which  renders  the  degradation  of  a country 
impossible,  and  accelerates  all  its  future  advances  in  light 
and  in  liberty.  That  point  we  seem  to  have  gained.  It 
consists  in  the  perfection  of  the  national  character — a per- 
fection which  renders  it  respectable  in  the  eye  of  the  ruWs, 


FAST-DAY  SERMON. 


61 


and  gives  an  energy  to  its  opinions  sufficient  to  resist  every 
flagrant  violation  of  justice  or  freedom.  Let  us  never  de- 
spair of  the  unfailing  effiffhcy  of  knowledge  in  conducting 
to  the  proudest  summits  of  national  felicity.  Let  every 
improvement  be  effected,  not  by  the  tumults  of  sedition  or 
the  agitations  of  party,  but  by  the  silent  and  progressive 
labors  of  instruction.  Let  us  direct  our  efforts  to  the  im- 
provement of  individual  character,  as  the  most  solid  and 
substantial  foundation  of  public  prosperity,  to  remove  those 
prejudices  in  which  ignorance  involves  the  understanding, 
to  dispel  those  unhappy  and  malignant  impressions  which 
separate  the  different  orders  of  the  community,  and  above 
all,  to  diffuse  the  admiration  of  virtue  by  the  charms  of  our 
private  example.  These  will  secure  to  the  Government  of 
Britain  the  obedience  of  a free  and  a willing  people,  who 
know  how  to  yield  a ready  acquiescence  in  the  restrictions 
of  a just  and  useful  authority,  and  to  sacrifice  the  petty 
competitions  of  interest  and  opinion  to  that  unanimity 
which  is  the  boast  and  protection  of  a country. 

The  situation  of  the  country  calls  aloud  for  the  unanimity 
of  its  inhabitants.  We  are  not  called  upon  to  defend  any 
particular  order  of  men.  We  are  not  called  upon  to  defend 
the  principles  and  views  of  any  party.  We  are  not  called 
upon  to  defend  the  possessions  of  the  wealthy,  or  the  rank 
of  the  noble.  It  is  to  defend  ourselves.  It  is  to  defend  the 
country  from  massacre  : it  is  to  defend  it  from  the  insolence 
of  a brutal  and  unfeeling  soldiery.  Let  it  not  be  said  that 
this  is  the  cause  of  the  great  or  the  wealthy.  That  cottage 
which  shelters  you  from  the  storms  of  winter,  should  be  as 
dear  to  you  as  the  stately  palace  is  to  the  chieftain  who  re- 
sides in  it.  That  little  garden  which  you  cultivate  for  the 
use  of  your  family,  should  be  as  dear  to  you  as  the  acres 
of  an  extensive  domain  are  to  its  lordly  proprietor.  I have 
undergone  several  of  the  varieties  of  fortune.  From  the 
dependence  of  a child  I have  arrived  through  intermediate 
steps  of  preferment  to  a comfortable  sufficiency  of  circum- 
stances. When  occupying  the  humbler  situations  of  life,  I 
felt  the  same  interest  in  defense  of  the  country  that  I do  at 


62 


FRENCH  INVASION. 


present,  the  same  attachment  to  the  cause  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious security,  the  same  contempt  for  oppression,  the  same 
stubborn  and  unbroken  spirit  o£  independence,  the  same 
determined  opposition  both  to  domestic  tyranny  and  to  the 
ignominy  of  a foreign  yoke.  True,  I had  little  to  lose,  but 
that  little  was  all  that  belonged  to  me.  It  supplied  all  the 
stores  of  my  enjoyment.  It  filled  up  the  measure  of  my 
humble  and  unambitious  desires ; and  had  it  fallen  a sacri- 
fice to  the  rapacity  of  an  invading  army,  it  would  have 
afflicted  me  with  equal  severity  as  the  destruction  of  the 
house  which  I now  occupy,  of  the  land  which  I now  culti- 
vate, of  the  emoluments  of  the  office  which  I now  exercise 
— an  office  to  the  duties  of  which  the  remainder  of  my  days 
may  probably  be  consecrated.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  you 
’have  no  interest  in  the  defense  of  the  country.  You  may 
live  in  a straw-built  shed,  and  have  an  equal  interest  with 
him  who  triumphs  in  all  the  magnificence  of  wealth,  and  is 
invested  with  the  proudest  honors  of  nobility.  You  may 
have  children  whose  infancy  you  have  protected,  and  to 
whose  manhood  you  look  forward  as  the  support  and  con- 
solation of  your  declining  years.  You  may  have  parents 
whose  age  requires  your  protection ; for  even  age  will  not 
soften  the  cruelty  of  your  relentless  enemies. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  discussions  like  these  are  a prosti- 
tution of  the  dignity  of  the  pulpit,  or  an  impertinent  devia- 
tion from  our  official  character  to  lend  the  authority  of  our 
profession  to  the  aid  of  party,  or  to  employ  it  in  strength- 
ening the  yoke  of  despotism  over  an  enslaved  and  perse- 
cuted people.  I hope  in  God  there  is  not  a man  among  us 
who  would  not  willingly  renounce  the  smiles  of  the  great 
and  the  patronage  of  power,  rather  than  concur  in  support- 
ing the  measures  of  an  arbitrary  and  oppressive  govern- 
ment. We  come  forward  not  in  the  spirit  of  an  accommo- 
dating policy.  We  come  forward  because  it  is  the  dictate 
of  our  own  hearts,  and  the  dictate  of  our  own  opinions. 
We  come  forward  because  we  conceive  it  to  be  the  duty  of 
every  good  man  in  the  present  critical  and  alarming  cir- 
cumstances of  the  country.  We  come  forward  because  it 


FAST-DAY  SERMON. 


63 


is  the  cause  of  patriotism.  It  is  the  cause  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty.  It  is  the  cause  of  that  Christianity  that  has 
been  transmitted  to  us  from  our  ancestors,  and  that  we  have 
been  taught  from  our  infancy  to  cherish  and  revere.  Some 
of  you  may  have  heard  of  Lavater ; he  was  a clergyman 
of  the  once  free  and  independent  country  of  Switzerland. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  literary  characters  of  his 
age.  He  had  a mind  formed  for  the  profoundest  investiga- 
tions of  science,  and  a heart  animated  by  that  mild  and  gen- 
erous benevolence  which  the  faith  of  Christianity  inspires. 
He  was  at  first  a keen  supporter  of  the  French  Revolution; 
he  defended  it  by  his  writings,  he  hailed  it  as  the  com- 
mencement of  a grand  era — when  liberty,  and  science,  and 
virtue  would  expand  their  triumphs  and  erect  an  omnipotent 
empire.  But  the  picture  was  soon  changed.  A few  years 
had  scarcely  elapsed  when  he  saw  through  the  magic  that 
had  bewitched  him.  His  own  country  was  invaded  by  the 
French  troops,  and  fell  a prey  to  the  most  unexampled 
atrocities.  In  his  retreat  he  wrote  a pamphlet  which  I 
have  myself  seen.*  He  here  discovers  all  the  ardor  of  his 

fjatriotic  mind,  in  the  exclamations  of  disappointed  benevo- 
ence,  and  in  the  afflicting  regrets  with  which  he  contem- 
plates the  ruin  of  his  countrymen. 

Let  us  not  tremble  at  the  dangers  which  surround  us. 
Let  us  not  be  afraid  though  an  enemy  should  encamp 
against  us.  What,  in  the  name  of  Heaven  ! — is  it  for  us  to 
resign  our  lives  and  our  liberties  to  the  insolence  of  lawless 
ambition ! Is  it  for  us  to  surrender  those  sacred  privileges 
which  were  cemented  by  the  blood  of  our  ancestors ! The 
pulse  of  a Briton  beats  high  in  the  cause  of  independence. 
A contempt  for  oppression  is  the  proudest  sentiment  of  his 
heart.  He  has  sucked  it  in  from  his  infancy  ; it  glows  even 
in  the  humblest  retreats  of  poverty ; it  ennobles  the  lowest 
retirements  of  life.  Amid  the  shocks  of  misfortune  he  sus- 
tains the  dignity  of  an  unbroken  spirit ; he  rejoices  in  his 

* The  pamphlet  here  alluded  to  is  in  all  likelihood  the  one  entitled  “ Re- 
monstrance addressed  to  the  Executive  Directory  of  the  French  Republic 
against  the  Invasion  of  Switzerland.  By  John  Caspar  Lavater.  London,  1798.” 


64 


FRENCH  INVASION. 


conscious  importance,  not  as  a favorite  of  fortune,  not  as  the 
lordling  of  an  extensive  domain  who  exercises  the  reign  of 
caprice  over  a tribe  of  dependents,  not  as  the  child  of  hered- 
itary grandeur  who  can  appeal  to  the  honors  of  a remote 
and  illustrious  ancestry — he  rejoices  in  his  importance  as  a 
man — as  a man  whose  rights  are  revered  by  the  laws  of  his 
country,  and  whose  virtues  will  be  hailed  by  the  voice  of  an 
applauding  public.  In  a country  such  as  this  we  have  noth- 
ing to  fear  from  the  insolence  of  power ; for  it  must  submit 
to  the  severity  of  an  impartial  justice.  In  a country  such 
as  this  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  corruption  of  our 
tribunals ; for  they  feel  that  they  are  under  the  control  of 
public  opinion,  and  that  all  the  splendor  of  official  import- 
ance is  unable  to  protect  their  injustice  from  the  frown  of 
a generous  and  enlightened  people.  In  a country  such  as 
this  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  efforts  of  sedition;  for 
our  common  interests  engage  us  to  oppose  it,  and  to  control 
the  violence  of  its  deluded  votaries.  In  a country  such  as 
this  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  frenzy  of  revolution- 
ary violence  ; for  in  the  experience  of  our  present  blessings 
the  unanimous  sense  of  the  people  would  rise  to  resist  it. 
In  a country  such  as  this  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
oppressions  of  an  arbitrary  government ; for  our  rulers 
have  learned  to  respect  the  energy  of  the  public  voice,  and 
feel  that  their  best  security  is  in  the  hearts  of  their  subjects. 
And  shall  such  a country  turn  pale  at  the  approach  of  an 
invader  ? Shall  its  patriotism  wither  and  die  in  the  hour  of 
danger?  Will  it  surrender  that  venerable  system  of  law 
that  has  been  created  by  the  wisdom  of  ages  ? Will  it 
surrender  that  throne  which  has  been  adorned  by  the  pri- 
vate virtues  of  him  who  holds  it  ? Will  it  surrender  that 
Christianity  which  has  been  transmitted  to  us  from  our  an- 
cestors, and  which  we  have  been  taught  from  our  infancy 
to  cherish  and  revere?  Will  it  surrender  those  fields  which 
the  industry  of  its  inhabitants  has  enriched  with  the  fairest 
stores  of  cultivation  ? Will  it  surrender  its  towns  and  vil- 
lages to  destruction  ? Will  it  surrender  its  inhabitants  to 
massacre?  Will  it  surrender  its  homes  to  the  insolence  of 


FAST-DAY  SERMON. 


65 


a brutal  and  unfeeling  soldiery?  No.  Let  the  invader  at- 
tempt it  when  he  may,  he  will  attempt  it  to  his  destruc- 
tion. The  pride  of  an  indignant  country  will  rise  to  over- 
throw the  purposes  of  his  ambition,  and  the  splendor  of 
his  past  victories  will  be  tarnished  in  the  disgrace  that 
awaits  him. 

If  true  to  ourselves  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  in- 
sulting menaces  of  France.  And  can  I for  a moment  cher- 
ish the  disgraceful  supposition — can  I for  a moment  suppose 
that  there  is  a man  among  us  who  would  suffer  his  mind  to 
be  enfeebled  by  the  cowardly  apprehensions  of  danger? 
Can  I for  a moment  suppose  that  there  is  a man  among* us 
who,  in  the  present  alarming  circumstances,  would  prove 
false  to  the  cause  of  his  country?  I would  sooner  open  my 
door  to  the  savage  and  murderous  banditti  of  France  than 
admit  such  a man  into  my  confidence.  Against  an  open 
enemy  I can  guard  myself ; he  warns  me  of  my  danger ; 
he  throws  me  into  a posture  of  defense,  and  I bid  defiance 
to  his  rage.  But  the  case  is  different  with  these  insidious 
and  designing  men  who  lurk  in  the  bosom  of  the  country. 
They  are  snakes  in  the  grass.  They  are  asps  of  malignity 
whom  we  cherish  in  our  bosoms.  They  are  capable  of 
violating  the  most  sacred  oaths,  and  betraying  the  best  of 
friendships.  Under  the  mask  of  patriotism  they  meditate 
their  designs  of  treachery  ; and  that  country  which,  if  firm 
and  united,  would  bid  defiance  to  the  combined  hostility  of 
Europe,  is  delivered  up  a prey  to  all  the  horrors  of  insur- 
rection. But  I am  satisfied  that  no  such  spirit  exists  in  our 
neighborhood.  I am  satisfied  that  the  breast  of  every  man 
who  now  hears  me  is  animated  by  a feeling  of  the  purest 
patriotism — that  the  breast  of  every  man  who  now  hears  me 
feels  the  proudest  disdain  that  France  or  any  power  under 
heaven  should  insult  our  independence,  and  threaten  to  in- 
vade the  peace  of  our  dwellings. 

May  that  day  in  which  Bonaparte  ascends  the  throne  of 
Britain  be  the  last  of  my  existence ; may  I be  the  first  to 
ascend  the  scaffold  he  erects  to  extinguish  the  worth  and 
spirit  of  the  country  ; may  my  blood  mingle  with  the  blood 


66 


FRENCH  INVASION. 


of  patriots  ; and  may  I die  at  the  foot  of  that  altar  on  which 
British  independence  is  to  be  the  victim'.  The  future  year 
is  big  with  wonders.  It  may  involve  us  in  all  the  horrors 
of  a desolating  war.  It  may  decide  the  complexion  of  the 
civilized  world.  It  may  decide  the  future  tranquillity  of 
ages.  It  may  give  an  awful  lesson  to  ambition ; and  teach 
the  nations  of  Europe  what  it  is  to  invade  the  shores  of  a 
great  and  a high-spirited  country. 


SERMON  VI. 

[During  the  two  years  which  elapsed  from  the  time  at  which  the  follow- 
ing discourse  was  written  (July  2,  1808)  till  the  period  of  that  great  revolu- 
tion in  his  religious  sentiments  which  took  place  in  the  years  1810  and  1811, 
this  sermon  was  very  frequently  preached  by,  and  was  a special  favorite  of, 
its  author.  He  retained,  indeed,  a strong  partiality  for  it  to  the  last,  and 
delighted  to  tell  of  the  incident  to  which  it  owed  its  birth.  Walking  on 
one  of  the  public  roads  in  Kilmany,  he  had  come  in  sight  of  a family,  the 
members  of  which  were  thus  distributed.  A few  paces  in  advance — un- 
burdened, his  hands  thrust  lazily  into  his  pockets,  in  his  slouching  gait  hav- 
ing all  the  air  of  a man  very  much  at  his  ease — strode  on  the  husband.  Be- 
hind— bent  down,  “ a bairn  in  the  one  hand,  and  a bundle  in  the  other” — 
the  wearied  wife  and  mother  was  struggling  to  keep  pace  with  him.  A per- 
fect hurricane  of  indignation  was  awakened  in  the  breast  of  Dr.  Chalmers, 
when,  on  overtaking  the  group,  he  heard  the  man  vehemently  curse  back  at 
his  wife  as  he  ordered  her  to  “ come  along.”  Dr.  Chalmers  never  told  how 
that  hurricane  discharged  itself,  or  in  what  terms  he  administered  the  well- 
merited  rebuke.  Thought,  however,  as  well  as  emotion,  was  excited : in 
contrast  with  the  scene  of  rude  barbarity  he  had  witnessed,  the  pleasures 
and  benefits  of  courteousness  arose  in  vivid  coloring  before  his  eye.  He 
went  home — sat  down  to  write.  The  fruit  of  that  forenoon’s  incident  and 
that  evening’s  study  is  given  in  the  discourse  which  follows.] 

I.  PETER  III.  8. 

“ Be  courteous.” 

Courteousness  is  the  same  with  what  in  common  lan- 
guage would  be  called  civility  of  manners  ; but  as  the 
mind  is  often  a slave  to  the  imposition  of  words,  it  is  nec- 
essary to  distinguish  it  from  something  else,  which,  though 
very  like  it  in  sound,  is  very  different  from  it  in  sense  and 
in  significancy.  Let  it  be  distinctly  understood,  then,  that 
to  be  courteous  is  one  thing,  and  to  be  courtly  is  another. 
The  one  refers  to  the  disposition — the  other  to  the  external 
behavior.  The  one  is  a virtue — the  other  is  an  accomplish- 
ment. The  one  is  grace  of  character:  it  resides  in  the 
soul,  and  consists  in  the  benevolence  of  an  amiable  temper. 


68 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


The  other  is  grace  of  manner : it  may  be  seen  in  the  out- 
ward appearance,' ‘and  consists  m the  elegance  of  a fashion- 
able exterior.  A man  may  be  courteous  without  being 
courtly.  To  learn  the  virtue  of  the  text,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  go  to  court,  or  be  practiced  in  the  ceremonials  of  fine 
and  polished  society.  Courteousness  is  the  virtue  of  all 
ranks  : it  may  be  seen  in  the  cottage  as  well  as  in  the  pal- 
ace ; in  the  artificer’s  shop  as  well  as  in  the  gay  and  fash- 
ionable assembly  ; in  the  awkwardness  of  a homely  and 
untutored  peasant,  as  well  as  in  the  refined  condescension 
of  a prince  who  wakens  rapture  in  every  heart,  and  spreads 
fascination  and  joy  around  his  circle  of  delighted  visitors. 
It  is  of  importance  not  to  confound  what  is  so  essentially 
different.  A man  may  have  civility  without  a particle  of 
elegance,  and  a man  may  have  elegance  without  a particle 
of  civility.  There  is  a set  of  people  whom  I can  not  bear 
— the  pinks  of  fashionable  propriety — whose  every  word  is 
precise,  and  whose  every  movement  is  unexceptionable  ; 
but  who,  though  versed  in  all  the  categories  of  polite  be- 
havior, have  not  a particle  of  soul  or  of  cordiality  about 
them.  We  allow  that  their  manners  may  be  abundantly 
correct.  There  may  be  elegance  in  every  gesture,  and 
gracefulness  in  every  position ; not  a smile  out  of  place, 
and  not  a step  that  would  not  bear  the  measurement  of  the 
severest  scrutiny.  This  is  all  very  fine  ; but  what  I want 
is  the  heart  and  the  gayety  of  social  intecourse — the  frank- 
ness that  spreads  ease  and  animation  around  it — the  eye 
that  speaks  affability  to  all,  that  chases  timidity  from  every 
bosom,  and  tells  every  man  in  the  company  to  be  confident 
and  happy.  This  is  what  I conceive  to  be  the  virtue  of 
the  text,  and  not  the  sickening  formality  of  those  who  walk 
by  rule,  and  would  reduce  the  whole  of  human  life  to  a 
wire-bound  system  of  misery  and  constraint. 

Civility  has  been  called  one  of  the  lesser  virtues  of  the 
social  character.  It  does  not  stand  so  high  in  the  order  of 
social  duty  as  virtue  or  humanity.  It  may  be  the  same  in 
principle,  but  it  is  different  in  the  display.  It  may  not  be 
so  essential  to  the  constitution  of  society,  but  it  comprises  a 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


69 


thousand  engaging  attentions  which  go  far  to  keep  society 
together,  and  confer  an  exquisite  charm  on  the  walks  of 
social  intercourse. 

It  may  be  difficult  to  assign  a precise  limit  between  ci- 
vility and  the  other  virtues  of  the  social  character.  It  is 
saying  too  much  to  say  that  to  be  civil  is  to  lay  yourself 
out  for  the  accommodation  of  a neighbor.  You  accommo- 
date the  poor  with  money,  yet  nobody  would  say  that  this 
was  doing  a piece  of  civility  ; it  is  dignified  with  the  higher 
appellation  of  humanity.  You  accommodate  another  when 
you  lend  your  name  to  support  the  tottering  credit  of  an 
acquaintance ; yet  nobody  will  say  that  it  is  civil,  but  that 
it  is  generous  and  beneficent.  Civility,  in  fact,  is  confined 
to  those  lesser  attentions  which  require  no  material  sacri- 
fice of  time,  or  money,  or  interest ; those  little  offices  of 
kindness  which  can  be  discharged  without  loss  and  with- 
out trouble,  which  call  for  no  painful  exertion,  and  bring  no 
sensible  inconvenience  along  with  them.  To  point  the 
road  to  an  inquiring  traveler ; to  step  forward  and  relieve 
the  ignorance  or  the  embarrassment  of  a stranger ; to  make 
soothing  inquiries  after  the  sickness  which  reigns  in  an  ad- 
joining family  ; to  maintain  a series  of  respectful  atten- 
tions, and  to  carry  the  expression  of  kindness  in  your  look 
and  tone  and  general  conversation — these  are  so  many  ob- 
vious examples  of  civility— a virtue  in  the  observance  of 
which  you  may  be  said  to  incur  no  fatigue,  to  surrender  no 
interest,  and  submit  to  no  sacrifice.  To  lend  money  in  or- 
der to  relieve  the  embarrassments  of  an  unfortunate  fam- 
ily is  an  example  rather  of  humanity ; for  in  this  act  of 
kindness  you  risk  a material  interest — the  money  may 'never 
be  restored,  and  you  secretly  commit  it  to  some  future  ex- 
ercise of  generosity  to  cancel  the  obligation.  To  lend  books, 
again,  in  order  to  amuse  the  solitude  of  a convalescent  neigh- 
bor, is  an  example  of  civility ; for  in  this  act  of  kindness 
you  endanger  no  material  interest,  you  apprehend  no  loss, 
no  inconvenience — you  feel  confident  that  the  books  will 
be  restored,  and  you  have  the  satisfaction  of  spreading  en- 
joyment around  you  at  an  expense  that  is  scarcely  felt,  and 


70 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


need  never  be  complained  of.  You  will  observe,  then,  that 
civility  approaches  to  the  higher  exercises  of  generosity 
by  a limit  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  define  with  pre- 
cision. Both  of  them  point  to  a neighbor’s  happiness  and 
a neighbor’s  accommodation;  but  in  the  one  case  you  have 
to  make  a greater  sacrifice  of  your  own  personal  ease  or 
personal  advantage.  Both  of  them  have  their  foundation 
in  a principle  of  kindness ; but  to  be  generous  you  must 
make  some  important  sacrifice — to  be  civil  the  sacrifice 
must  be  so  small  as  to  encroach  upon  no  material  conve- 
nience, and  to  interfere  with  no  serious  pursuit  of  business 
or  interest. 

The  advantages  of  civility  may  be  referred  to  two  gen- 
eral heads — 1.  The  happiness  which  the  very  exercise  of 
this  virtue  communicates  to  him  who  practices  it ; and,  2. 
The  happiness  which  it  communicates  to  those  who  are  the 
objects  of  it.  First,  then,  as  to  the  happiness  which  springs 
from  the  exercise  of  this  virtue,  I appeal  to  the  experience 
of  every  generous  bosom  if  the  exercise  of  kindness  does 
not  leave  a sweet  satisfaction  behind  it ; and  if  it  has  never 
felt  that  harmony  which  reigns  in  the  soul  after  it  indulges 
in  a benevolent  affection.  I appeal  to  the  experience  of 
every  generous  bosom  if  it  is  not  more  pleasant  to  re- 
turn a civil  answer  to  the  inquiries  of  a traveler  than  to 
triumph  in  his  helplessness,  or  to  rejoice  in  his  ignorance 
and  his  embarrassment.  I appeal  to  the  experience  of 
every  generous  bosom  if  it  is  not  more  pleasant  to  dissi- 
pate the  awkwardness  of  an  inferior  by  the  affability  of  our 
manners  than  to  humble  him  into  timidity,  or  to  throw  him 
at  a mortifying  distance  by  the  hauteur  and  stiffness  of  our 
deportment.  The  benevolent  Author  of  our  frames  has  an- 
nexed a joy  to  every  virtuous  exercise  of  the  heart ; there 
is  a pleasure  accompanying  the  cordiality  of  good  wishes 
and  benevolent  intentions.  It  may  be  difficult  to  describe 
the  feeling ; it  is  perhaps  too  simple  to  be  taken  to  pieces 
and  made  the  subject  of  a formal  explanation  ; but  every 
child  of  nature  can  lend  his  testimony  to  the  reality  of  its 
existence.  There  is  always  a pleasure  accompanying  the 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


71 


exercise  of  power,  and  the  pleasure  is  heightened  to  a ten- 
fold degree  when  this  power  is  directed  to  the  purposes  of 
beneficence.  Now  there  is  not  a man  among  us  who  is 
not  in  some  degree  invested  with  such  a power.  Every 
man  among  us  has  the  power  of  diffusing  satisfaction  around 
him  by  the  civility  of  his  manners  ; he  has  it  in  his  power 
to  look  with  a brother’s  eye,  and  to  gladden  every  bosom 
by  the  engaging  affability  of  his  deportment.  I am  not 
speaking  of  the  happiness  he  communicates  to  others ; I 
speak  of  the  happiness  he  is  providing  for  himself ; I am 
telling  him  of  the  satisfaction  of  his  own  feelings,  and  of 
the  joy  that  springs  in  the  solitude  of  his  own  bosom  when 
it  is  tuned  to  the  purposes  of  kindness.  Perhaps  civility  is 
more  allied  with  a liberal  and  expanded  principle  of  hu- 
manity than  any  other  virtue  of  the  social  character.  You 
may  be  just,  but  this  justice  is  confined  to  the  few  individ- 
uals with  whom  you  are  connected  in  the  walks  of  busi- 
ness; you  may  be  generous,  but  this  generosity  is  confined 
to  the  particular  cases  of  distress  which  come  under  your 
observation ; you  may  be  patriotic,  but  this  patriotism  is 
confined  to  the  narrow  limits  of  the  country  in  which  you 
were  born.  The  virtue  of  civility  knows  no  exceptions. 
It  embraces  all ; it  asks  no  questions ; nor  does  it  hesitate 
and  delay  till  it  has  ascertained  its  object.  Civility  is  a 
general  habit  of  kindness ; it  requires  no  particular  claim 
upon  its  attentions.  Enough  for  it  that  the  object  before 
you  is  a man.  He  may  be  an  entire  stranger;  but  this  it 
conceives  to  be  an  additional  call  upon  its  exercise.  The 
hurry  of  traveling  supplies  you  with  a,  thousand  examples 
of  such  rapid  intercourse,  where  you  may  never  meet  again 
till  you  meet  in  heaven,  but  where  each  has  made  the  other 
happy  by  the  interchange  of  obliging  expressions,  and  an 
hour  spent  in  the  luxury  of  kindness.  Now  it  is  this  cir- 
cumstance which  gives  the  virtue  of  civility  such  an  exalt- 
ed place  in  my  estimation — the  enlargement  of  that  princi- 
ple upon  which  it  is  founded,  and  the  grandeur  of  that  thea- 
ter in  which  it  expatiates.  The  principle  is  universal  good 
will,  and  the  theater  is  the  world.  There  is  something  gen- 


72 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


erous  and  expanding  in  the  principle.  It  has  no  petty  con- 
sideration to  restrain  it  in  its  exercise  ; it  calls  for  no  claim, 
no  terms  of  admittance ; it  is  not  your  family  or  your  neigh- 
borhood that  introduces  you  to  its  attentions.  Enough  for 
it  that  you  belong  to  the  species — that  you  are  a brother  of 
the  same  nature — that  you  have  a bosom  which  can  be 
soothed  by  the  accents  of  kindness,  and  a heart  that  feels 
the  attentions  of  another  to  be  gracious.  Now  the  point 
which  I am  at  present  insisting  upon  is,  that  the  exercise 
of  such  a principle  confers  happiness  upon  its  possessor — 
that  it  carries  along  with  it  a series  of  the  most  animating 
and  delightful  sensations — that  the  tone  of  mind  which  ac- 
companies the  exercise  of  kindness  is  in  the  highest  degree 
favorable  to  enjoyment — that  good  will  is  a pleasurable 
feeling — and  that  cheerfulness  is  ever  the  inheritance  of  him 
who  moves  along  with  his  affections  flying  before  him ; with 
every  feeling  tuned  to  benevolence,  and  every  wish  directed 
to  the  happiness  of  others. 

I am  not  calling  upon  you  to  make  any  romantic  sacri- 
fice, to  give  your  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  or  to  surrender  a 
single  portion  of  that  time  which  interest  tells  you  should 
be  directed  to  the  engagements  of  business.  I am  only 
calling  upon  you  to  cultivate  that  habitual  kindness  of  spirit 
which  discharges  itself  in  the  thousand  little  attentions  of 
civility.  I only  call  upon  you  to  enter  with  cheerfulness 
into  these  minuter  offices  of  kindness  which  come  in  your 
way  and  can  be  performed  without  trouble  and  without  in- 
convenience. I only  call  upon  you  to  come  forward  with 
the  simple  offering  of  kind  looks  and  obliging  expressions 
— to  chase  away  the  embarrassments  of  the  awkward  by 
the  affability  of  your  manners — and  to  delight  the  hearts  of 
all  around  you  by  the  consciousness  that  they  possess  your 
respect  and  tenderness.  I protest  that  however  difficult  to 
describe  the  sensation,  there  is  something  in  the  feeling  of 
a hearty  good-will  to  another’s  happiness  which  is  in  the 
highest  degree  animating  and  delightful — that  it  blesses 
him  who  gives  as  well  as  him  who  receives  it — that  it  is  a 
spring  of  the  most  genial  satisfaction  to  all  who  cherish  it 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


73 


— and  that  it  is  always  sure  to  throw  even  into  the  solitude 
of  a man’s  bosom  the  sunshine  of  tranquillity  and  cheerful- 
ness. What  a delightful  contrast  to  those  melancholy  be- 
ings who  have  no  heart — who  never  tasted  the  joys  of  cor- 
diality, whose  bosoms  never  warmed  to  the  animating  spec- 
tacle of  another’s  bliss  and  another’s  gayety,  who  hedge 
themselves  round  with  a set  of  the  most  freezing  and  repul- 
sive ceremonies,  who  suffer  none  to  approach  them  with 
confidence,  who  roll  themselves  up  in  their  own  solitary 
grandeur,  and  give  to  pride  and  to  solemnity  those  hours 
which  should  have  been  spent  in  the  interchange  of  agree- 
able manners  and  the  luxury  of  social  affections.  I know 
not  whether  to  hate  or  to  pity  them ; but  certain  it  is  that 
they  debar  themselves  from  the  choicest  of  all  luxuries,  and 
a luxury  which  no  good  mind  would  be  willing  to  forego. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  luxury  of  social  affections  is  better  than 
the  parade  and  solemnity  of  forms — and  that  the  vanity  of 
their  own  importance  is  but  a wretched  atonement  for  the 
loss  of  those  pleasures  which  spring  from  the  exercise  of 
kindness,  and  a heart  that  loves  to  indulge  in  another’s  joy. 

In  addition  to  the  pleasure  which  springs  from  the  very 
exercise  of  civility,  there  are  other  advantages  which  I for- 
bear particularly  to  insist  upon.  I know  nothing  that  is 
more  calculated  than  a kind  and  conciliating  manner  to  pro- 
pitiate friends  and  secure  the  good  wishes  of  all  around  you. 
It  is  the  most  popular  of  all  virtues.  It  will  .go  further  to 
gain  the  affections  of  men  than  the  most  splendid  deeds  of 
beneficence.  By  relieving  my  wants  you  make  me  feel  the 
load  of  an  obligation;  I blush  at  the  humility  of  my  own  de- 
pendence, and  am  thrown  to  a most  mortifying  distance 
from  that  superior  being  whose  beneficence  sustains  me. — 
An  act  of  charity  is  an  offering  not  to  me  but  to  my  wants  ; 
an  act  of  civility  carries  along  with  it  a more  immediate 
homage  to  myself.  I am  the  object  of  charity  because  I 
need  it ; but  I am  the  object  of  civility  not  because  I need 
it,  but  because  I am  thought  to  deserve  it.  There  is  on  this 
account  a soothing  flattery  in  the  attentions  of  civility  that 
is  far  more  grateful  to  the  bosom  of  man  than  any  other  act 
VOL.  vi. — D 


74 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


or  any  other  form  of  kindness  which  you  choose  to  specify. 
It  is  not  the  favor  which  civility  confers.  The  favor  may 
of  itself  be  a mere  nothing — some  obliging  expression,  or 
some  soothing  and  attentive  inquiry.  It  is  the  respect  and 
tenderness  which  an  act  of  civility  implies  ; it  is  the  delight- 
ful consciousness  that  I possess  the  sympathy  of  another’s 
bosom.  These  are  the  feelings  which  give  such  a delicate 
charm  to  the  exercises  of  civility,  and  bestow  upon  it  a 
power  over  the  affections  of  men  which  all  the  patronage  of 
the  great  and  all  the  charities  of  opulence  can  never  equal. 
In  addition  to  all  this,  let  me  also  mention  that  the  exercise 
of  civility  costs  you  nothing.  It  calls  for  no  sacrifice  of 
time  or  money  or  interest.  There  is  nothing  to  fatigue  or 
to  consume  you  in  this  delightful  exercise.  It  is  the  spon- 
taneous flow  of  good  affections,  and  consists  in  those  little 
offices  of  kindness  which  can  be  discharged  without  trouble, 
and  leave  no  loss  or  inconvenience  behind  them. 

I now  proceed  to  the  second  head  of  discourse,  where  I 
am  to  examine  the  happiness  which  civility  confers  upon 
those  who  are  the  objects  of  it.  It  is  like  the  dew  which 
droppeth  upon  the  grass  beneath.  It  blesses  him  who  gives 
and  him  who  receives  it.  The  pleasure  which  we  feel  in 
receiving  a kindness  depends  upon  two  causes : there  is  first 
the  benefit  conferred,  and  there  is  secondly,  the  agreeable 
feeling  which  springs  in  every  bosom  from  its  being  the  ob- 
ject of  another’s  benevolence.  In  relieving  the  wretched- 
ness of  extreme  poverty,  the  first  is  the  predominant  cause 
of  the  pleasure  which  we  communicate.  We  have  con- 
ferred an  important  benefit.  We  have  appeased  hunger,  or 
given  shelter  to  the  naked  and  defenseless.  In  discharging 
an  office  of  civility,  again,  the  second  is  the  predominant 
cause  of  the  pleasure  which  we  communicate.  The  bene- 
fit conferred  may  in  itself  have  been  of  no  consequence — a 
kind  look  or  a respectful  attention.  The  benefit  may  not  be 
of  such  a kind  as  to  better  our  circumstances,  or  bring  along 
with  it  any  other  palpable  advantage ; but  still  there  is  a 
charm  in  the  attentions  of  civility  that  is  altogether  indepen- 
dent of  the  benefit  conferred.  This  charm  lies  in  the  con- 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


75 


sciousness  of  being  the  object  of  another’s  kindness,  and  in 
being  supported  by  the  cordiality  of  another’s  attentions.  It 
is  a very  gross  way  of  calculating  the  matter  to  estimate 
the  enjoyment  which  springs  from  benevolence  by  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  gift  which  it  confers.  Civility  presents  no  gift, 
but  it  comes  forward  with  a far  more  delightful  offering — 
the  offering  of  agreeable  attentions,  and  a manner  express- 
ive of  cordiality  and  friendship.  I maintain  that  the  exer- 
cise of  this  virtue  is  more  conducive  to  the  happiness  of  so- 
ciety than  the  most  liberal  and  expensive  charities.  What 
is  it  that  perpetuates  the  harmony  and  friendship  of  a neigh- 
borhood ? It  is  the  interchange  of  respectful  attentions,  and 
the  little  endearing  expressions  of  civility.  What  is  it  that 
creates  quarrels  and  fills  the  whole  village  with  the  uproar 
of  controversy  ? It  may  sometimes  be  the  cruelty  of  injus- 
tice, but  it  is  far  oftener  the  insolence  of  disdain,  the  sullen- 
ness of  an  unaccommodating  manner,  the  mortifying  negli- 
gence of  those  who  count  you  unworthy  of  their  attentions. 
What  is  it  that  throws  a sunshine  into  the  habitations  of  the 
wretched  ? Your  charity  relieves,  but  your  civility  revives 
them ; it  restores  them  to  the  dignity  of  the  species,  and 
makes  them  forget  the  cruelty  of  those  humiliations  which 
misfortune  has  entailed  upon  them.  The  meal  which  comes 
from  the  great  man’s  house  sustains  them,  and  they  try  to 
be  grateful  for  it ; but  gratitude  comes  at  will,  when  they 
receive  their  forenoon  visit  from  the  loveliest  of  human  be- 
ings, whose  delight  is  in  the  dwellings  of  the  poor,  who  loves 
to  cheer  them  by  her  attentions,  and  to  bless  by  the  affabil- 
ity of  her  manners  those  humble  cottages  which  surround 
the  princely  mansion  of  her  father.  Yes,  there  is  something 
in  the  attentions  of  civility  that  is  calculated  to  warm  and 
to  exhilarate  the  human  bosom.  I am  not  speaking  of  a gift 
or  of  a benefit ; but  there  is  something  in  the  very  sense  of 
another’s  kindness  that  carries  along  with  it  the  most  gra- 
cious of  enjoyments.  Now  the  kindness  of  charity  may 
hurt  or  may  mortify  its  object;  but  the  kindness  of  civility 
has  no  alloy.  It  carries  along  with  it  a'l  the  power  and  in- 
sinuation of  the  most  delicate  flattery.  It  is  a clear  and  un- 


76 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


mixed- feeling,  altogether  purified  from  the  grossness  of  ob 
ligation,  and  from  those  galling  reflections  which  are  ever 
sure  to  accompany  a sense  of  dependence.  If  civility  can 
do  so  much,  why,  in  the  name  of  tenderness,  should  we  with- 
hold it  ? why  refuse  so  simple  an  offering  at  the  shrine  of 
humanity  ? why  retire  to  the  solitude  of  our  own  import- 
ance, and  disdain  to  mingle  in  kindness  with  those  who  are 
brethren  of  the  same  nature  and  children  of  the  same  benef- 
icent Creator  ? We  all  sprung  from  heaven,  and  to  heaven 
we  are  all  pointing.  Why  should  we  cast  out  by  the  way  ? 
why  deny  so  easy  a sacrifice  as  the  sacrifice  of  civility? 
why  refuse  so  simple  an  offering  as  the  offering  of  agreea 
ble  manners,  and  a countenance  lightened  up  by  the  smiles 
of  brotherhood  and  affection  ? what  is  it  that  induces  you  to 
withhold  so  easy  an  offering  ? — are  you  afraid  of  commit- 
ting your  dignity  by  excessive  condescension?  It  is  very 
true  that  the  kindness  of  a weak  man  often  exposes  him  to 
ridicule.  But  I do  not  suppose  you  to  be  weak.  What  I 
want  at  present  is  to  communicate  to  your  feelings  the  tem- 
per of  benevolence — and  I take  it  for  granted  that  you  have 
sense  enough  to  direct  you  in  the  exercise  of  this  principle. 
There  is  certainly  a way  of  descending  to  the  exercises  of 
civility,  and  in  such  a manner  as  to  save  your  dignity  and 
to  sustain  the  importance  of  your  character.  A man,  if  he  is 
weak,  will  render  himself  ridiculous  in  any  direction,  wheth- 
er it  be  on  the  side  of  excessive  kindness  or  excessive  anx- 
iety to  keep  up  his  importance.  A man  may  render  him- 
self ridiculous  by  his  excessive  humility,  and  he  may  render 
himself  as  ridiculous  by  the  excessive  grandeur  and  solem- 
nity of  his  manners.  I know  not  whether  to  laugh  or  to  cry 
when  I witness  those  ridiculous  beings  whose  great  effort 
and  anxiety  in  this  world  is  to  keep  up  their  dignity ; who 
are  so  lofty  and  so  inaccessible;  who  must  not  be  touched; 
who  shelter  themselves  under  the  defense  of  a stately  cer- 
emonial ; and  whose  whole  behavior  is  only  calculated  to 
overpower  the  diffident,  or  cause  those  who  have  a sufficient 
degree  of  nerve  and  firmness  to  be  indifferent  about  them. 
Let  me  never  hear,  then,  the  argument  of  ridicule  employed 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


77 


to  discourage  the  exercises  of  a kind  and  condescending  ci- 
vility. If  people  wish  for  amusement,  I would  direct  them 
to  the  opposite  extreme  of  character,  and  assure  them  that 
they  will  there  meet  with  far  better  game  for  the  exercise 
of  ridicule.  No  ; I would  pity  the  weakness  of  those  who 
were  victims  to  an  amiable  but  misguided  benevolence  of 
temper,  while  I would  let  out  the  full  cry  of  ridicule  against 
the  wretched  vanity  of  him  who  marches  solemnly  along, 
and  thinks  that  by  the  stateliness  of  his  manners  he  is  to 
scatter  awe  and  embarrassment  around  him. 

I may  observe  that  less  evil  results  from  the  exercise  of 
civility  than  any  other  virtue  of  the  social  character.  It  is 
in  the  power  of  charity  to  corrupt  its  object ; it  may  tempt 
him  to  indolence ; it  may  lead  him  to  renounce  all  depend- 
ence upon  himself ; it  may  nourish  the  meanness  and  de- 
pravity of  his  character ; it  may  lead  him  to  hate  exertion, 
and  to  resign  without  a sigh  the  dignity  of  independence. 
It  could  be  easily  proved  that  if  charity  were  carried  to  its 
utmost  extent,  it  would  unhinge  the  constitution  of  society. 
It  would  expel  from  the  land  the  blessings  of  industry. 
Every  man  would  repose  on  the  beneficence  of  another. 
Every  incitement  to  diligence  would  be  destroyed.  The 
evils  of  poverty  would  multiply  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be 
beyond  the  power  even  of  the  most  unbounded  charity  to  re- 
dress them  ; and  instead  of  an  elysium  of  love  and  of  plenty, 
the  country  would  present  the  nauseating  spectacle  of  sloth 
and  beggary  and  corruption.  There  is  no  such  danger  at- 
tending the  exercise  of  civility.  It  draws  no  dependence 
along  with  it ; it  gladdens  the  heart  without  corrupting  it. 
Instead  of  degrading,  it  has  rather  effect  to  cheer  and  ele- 
vate and  sustain  the  character.  I want  not  the  charity  of 
my  neighbor  so  long  as  I can  rely  on  the  native  independence 
of  my  own  exertions ; but  I would  like  at  all  times  to  be 
supported  by  his  friendship,  to  be  delighted  by  the  civility 
of  his  manners,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  maintenance  of  a sooth- 
ing and  agreeable  fellowship. 

I also  observe  that  the  power  of  diffusing  happiness  is  not 
the  exclusive  inheritance  of  the  rich.  All  are  capable  01  it 


78 


COURTEOUSNESS. 


The  poorest  of  men  can  cheer  me  by  his  affection,  or  dis- 
tress me  by  his  hatred  and  contempt.  He  may  not  be  able 
to  relieve  me  by  his  wealth,  but  he  is  at  least  able  to  delight 
me  by  his  civility.  Every  man  is  the  dependent  of  another. 
A piece  of  neglect,  even  from  the  lowest  and  most  contemp- 
tible of  men,  is  fit  to  ruffle  the  tranquillity  of  my  happiness  ; 
and  a civil  attention,  even  from  the  humblest  of  our  kind, 
carries  a most  gracious  and  exhilarating  influence  along  with 
it.  Let  me  never  hear,  then,  that  the  poor  have  nothing  in 
their  power.  They  have  it  in  their  power  to  give  or  to 
withhold  civility  of  manners.  They  have  it  in  their  power 
to  give  or  to  withhold  friendly  attentions.  They  have  it  in 
their  power  to  give  or  to  withhold  kind  and  obliging  ex- 
pressions. They  have  it  in  their  power  to  give  or  to  with- 
hold the  smiles  of  affection  and  the  sincerity  of  a tender 
attachment.  Let  not  these  humble  offerings  of  poverty  be 
disregarded.  The  man  of  sentiment  knows  how  to  value 
them : he  prizes  them  as  the  best  deeds  of  beneficence. 
They  lighten  the  weary  anxieties  of  this  world,  and  carry 
him  on  with  a cheerful  heart  to  the  end  of  his  journey. 


July  2,  1808. 


SERMON  VII. 


[In  February  1809,  shortly  after  the  honorable  but  disastrous  battle  of 
Corunna,  a national  fast  was  kept — on  the  day  of  the  observance  of  which 
the  following  sermon  was  delivered.  In  the  fast-day  sermon  of  1803,  the 
reader  can  scarcely  fail  to  have  been  struck  with  the  absence,  not  merely 
of  any  allusion  to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Christianity,  but  of  any  distinct 
recognition  even  of  Divine  Providence.  In  this  fast-day  of  1809,  the  su- 
premacy of  God  and  of  His  government  is  not  only  very  fully  acknowledged, 
but  very  earnestly  insisted  on.  The  contrast  between  the  two  discourses 
marks  a stage  in  that  progress  which  this  volume  is  meant  to  trace.  ] 

PROVERBS  XXI.  1. 

“The  king’s  heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  as  the  rivers  of  water:  he  turneth  it 
whithersoever  he  will.” 

It  is  consolatory  to  think  that  this  earthly  scene,  in  spite 
of  the  misery  and  apparent  confusion  which  prevail  in  it, 
is  under  the  absolute  control  of  infinite  wisdom — that  the 
God  who  sittetji  above  and  reigns  in  heaven,  also  presides 
over  the  destinies  of  this  lower  world — that  every  event  in 
history  is  of  His  appointment — that  every  occurrence  in 
the  course  of  human  affairs  is  in  the  order  of  His  provi 
dence — that  He  reigns  in  the  heart  of  man,  and  can  con- 
trol all  its  purposes — that  the  violence  of  human  ambition 
is  only  an  instrument  which  He  employs,  to  carry  on  His 
government  and  accomplish  the  purposes  of  His  wisdom. 
When  we  see  combined  in  the  same  person  the  genius  of 
an  angel  and  the  malignity  of  a tyrant — when  we  see  a 
power  that  no  human  energy  can  resist,  and  this  power 
directed  to  the  slavery  and  degradation  of  the  species — 
when  we  see  strewed  around  his  throne  the  mangled  liber- 
ties of  a generous  and  intrepid  people — when  we  follow 
him  in  the  brilliant  career  of  his  victories,  and  in  the  history 
of  his  guilty  triumphs  anticipate  the  new  miseries  which  his 
ambition  is  to  bring  upon  the  world,  it  certainly  brightens 
up  the  dreariness  that  lies  before  us  when  we  think  that  he 


80 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


is  only  an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  the  Almighty — that  it 
is  God  that  worketh  in  him  to  will  and  to  do — that  the 
heart  of  man  is  in  the  Lord’s  hand  as  the  rivers  of  water, 
and  that  He  turneth  it  wheresoever  He  will.  It  is  the 
sublimest  exercise  of  piety  to  refer  everything  around  us 
to  the  wisdom  of  God — to  acknowledge  Him  in  all  the 
events  of  His  providence — to  place  our  refuge  in  His  wis- 
dom in  the  evil  days  of  darkness  and  disorder,  and  to  rest 
our  confidence  on  that  Almighty  Being  who  sitteth  above, 
and  presides  in  high  authority  over  the  theater  of  human 
affairs.  Such  are  the  consolations  of  piety — such  the  ele- 
vation of  heart  which  religion  confers — an  elevation  which 
the  world  knoweth  not,  and  which  the  tyrant  of  this  world 
cannot  take  away.  Life  is  short,  and  its  anxieties  are  soon 
over.  The  glories  even  of  the  conqueror  will  soon  find 
their  hiding-place  in  the  grave.  In  a few  years,  and  that 
power  which  appalls  the  world  will  feel  all  the  weakness 
of  mortality — the  sentence  of  all  must  pursue  him — the  fate 
of  all  must  overtake  him  ; he  must  divest  himself  of  his 
glories,  and  lie  down  with  the  meanest  of  his  slaves — that 
ambition  which  aspires  to  the  dominion  of  the  whole  earth, 
will  at  last  have  but  a spot  of  dust  to  repose  on — it  will  be 
cut  short  in  the  midst  of  its  triumphs — it  will  sleep  from  all 
its  anxieties,  and  be  -fast  locked  in  the  insensibility  of  death. 
There  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are 
at  rest. 

We  live  in  a busy  and  interesting  period.  Every  year 
gives  a new  turn  to  the  history  of  the  world,  and  throws  a 
new  complexion  over  the  aspect  of  political  affairs.  The 
wars  of  other  times  shrink  into  insignificance  when  com- 
pared with  the  grand  contest  which  now  embroils  the 
whole  of  civilized  society.  They  were  paltry  in  their  origin 
— they  were  trifling  in  their  object — they  were  humble  and 
insignificant  in  their  consequences.  A war  of  the  last  gen- 
eration left  the  nations  of  Europe  in  the  same  relative  sit- 
uation in  which  it  found  them  ; but  war  now  is  on  a scale 
of  magnitude  that  is  quite  unexampled  in  the  history  of 
modern  times.  Not  to  decide  some  point  of  jealousy  or 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


81 


to  secure  some  trifling  possessions,  it  embraces  a grander 
interest — it  involves  the  great  questions  of  Existence  and 
Liberty.  Every  war  is  signalized  with  the  wreck  of  some 
old  empire  and  the  establishment  of  a new  one — all  the 
visions  of  romance  are  authenticated  in  the  realities  which 
pass  before  us — the  emigration  of  one  royal  family,  the 
flight  and  the  imprisonment  of  another,  the  degradation 
of  a third  to  all  the  obscurity  of  private  life — these  are 
events  which  have  ceased  to  astonish  us  because  their 
novelty  is  over,  and  they  are  of  a piece  with  those  wonder- 
ful changes  which  the  crowded  history  of  these  few  years 
presents  to  our  remembrance.  Such  a period  as  this  then 
gives  full  scope  for  the  exercise  of  piety.  Let  everything 
be  referred  to  God ; in  this  diversity  of  operations,  let  us 
remember  that  it  is  He  who  worketh  all  in  all — -let  us  recog- 
nize Him  as  the  author  of  all  these  wonders — and  amid  this 
bewildering  variety  of  objects,  let  us  never  lose  sight  of 
that  mighty  Being  who  sustains  all  and  directs  all.  It  is 
His  judgments  that  are  abroad  in  the  world — it  is  His  mag- 
nificent plans  that  are  verging  to  their  accomplishment — 
it  is  Hi§  system  of  beauty  and  order  and  wisdom,  that  is  to 
proceed  from  this  wild  uproar  of  human  passions.  He  can 
restrain  the  remainder  of  human  wrath — He  can  allay  the 
fury  and  the  turbulence  of  human  ambition — He  can  make 
order  spring  out  of  confusion,  and  attune  every  heart  and 
every  will  to  His  purposes. 

Let  it  not  be  disguised.  There  is  ground  for  apprehen- 
sion in  the  character  and  talents  of  the  enemy.  There  is 
a wisdom  in  his  politics,  there  is  a power  and  a rapidity 
in  his  decisions,  there  is  a mysterious  energy  in  his  char- 
acter, there  is  a wealth  and  a population  in  his  empire 
that  are  sufficient  to  account  for  that  tide  of  success 
which  has  accompanied  him  in  all  his  efforts  against  the 
imbecility  of  the  old  governments.  The  governments  he 
had  to  contend  with  were  old,  and  they  had  all  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age.  They  wanted  that  vigor  and  impulse  and 
purity  which  a revolution  communicates  to  every  depart- 
ment of  the  State.  With  the  one  party  we  see  an  energy 

D* 


82 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


pervading  every  department  of  the  public  service — with 
the  other  we  see  the  most  important  administrations  in- 
trusted to  the  minions  of  a court,  to  the  puny  lordlings  of 
hereditary  grandeur — a set  of  beings  who  had  nothing  to 
sustain  them  but  the  smile  of  a minister,  or  nothing  to 
protect  them  from  insignificance  but  the  blazoned  heraldry 
of  their  ancestors.  There  is  no  denying  that  in  France 
the  military  appointments  are  decided  by  the  questions  of 
merit  and  fitness  and  character.  In  the  other  countries  of 
Europe — and  I blush  to  say  that  even  in  this  vaunted  abode 
of  purity  and  of  patriotism,  almost  everything  connected 
with  the  interest  of  the  public  comes  under  the  putrifying 
touch  of  money  or  of  politics — that  corruption  has  insin- 
uated itself  into  every  department  of  the  State — that  men 
are  summoned  up  into  offices  of  distinction  who  are  only 
calculated  to  cover  a nation  with  disgrace,  and  expose  it 
to  the  derision  of  its  enemies — that  the  public  voice  has 
lost  its  energy,  and  the  united  indignation  of  a whole  people 
is  often  unable  to  drag  to  punishment  those  delinquents 
whom  patronage  has  exalted  and  the  smiles  of  a court  have 
sheltered  from  infamy.  This  surely  affords  a heartless  and 
a mortifying  spectacle,  and  is  calculated  to  alarm  any  lover 
of  his  country  when  he  compares  it  with  that  dreadful 
energy  which  its  enemies  can  muster  up  to  overwhelm  it. 
We  see  no  imbecility  there — no  corruption  in  the  military 
appointments  of  Bonaparte — no  submissive  accommoda- 
tion to  the  interest  of  great  families — the  truth  is,  that  his 
power  renders  him  independent  of  it.  In  him  we  see  vest- 
ed in  one  person  the  simple  energy  of  a despotism.  He  is 
so  far  exalted  above  the  greatest  of  his  subjects  that  to  his 
eye  all  are  equal.  He  needs  not  to  temporize  or  accom- 
modate or  allure  the  friendship  of  a great  family  with  the 
bribery  of  corruption — he  throws  open  the  career  of  pre- 
ferment to  the  whole  of  his  immense  population — he  calls 
upon  all  to  enter  into  this  generous  and  aspiring  competition 
of  talent,  and  it  is  a competition  that  has  often  exalted  the 
veriest  child  of  raggedness  and  obscurity  to  the  proudest 
offices  of  the  empire.  I do  not  speak  in  the  tone  of  dis- 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


83 


affection — I speak  in  the  tone  of  patriotism.  I do  not  mean 
to  pursue  the  errors  of  my  Government  in  the  spirit  of  hos- 
tility— it  is  in  that  spirit  of  xegret  that  proceeds  from  the 
sincerity  of  my  attachment — from  my  conviction  that  the 
Government  of  England  is  worth  the  contending  for — that 
every  lover  of  his  country  should  stand  by  it  to  maintain  its 
purity,  as  well  as  to  defend  its  existence — that  he  should 
not  only  risk  his  life  in  fighting  the  battles  of  his  country 
against  the  enemies  of  its  independence,  but  that  he  should 
risk  all  the  advantages  of  patronage  and  preferment  in 
fighting  the  battles  of  the  Constitution  against  the  enemies 
of  its  purity  and  its  vigor.  Let  us  hope  that  the  present 
state  of  affairs  will  operate  as  an  effectual  lesson  to  the 
rulers  of  the  country — that  the  sense  of  danger  will  animate 
the  public  mind  to  all  the  enthusiasm  of  virtue — that  the 
ardor  of  patriotism  will  chase  away  all  the  obliquities  of  a 
selfish  and  interested  politics — that  our  legislation  will  turn 
with  shame  from  the  low  game  of  party  dissension,  and 
lend  their  unanimity  to  that  noble  struggle  that  is  to  de- 
cide the  liberty  of  the  future  age,  and  give  a lasting  com- 
plexion to  the  history  of  future  times.  But  let  us  not  forget 
our  dependence  upon  God — that  mighty  Being  who  reigns 
supreme  over  the  will  of  man,  and  exerts  an  absolute  con- 
trol 6ver  all  hearts  and  all  purposes.  He  who  hardened 
the  heart  of  Pharaoh  against  the  calamities  of  his  country 
can  exert  the  same  influence  over  the  minds  of  the  rulers 
of  the  present  day.  He  can  infatuate  the  mind  of  the 
country  against  the  feeling  of  its  dangers — He  can  throw 
a slumbering  indifference  over  the  land — He-  can  lay  us 
asleep  on  the  brink  of  destruction,  and  send  that  torpor,  that 
security  into  the  hearts  of  our  rulers  which  is  the  melan- 
choly symptom  of  a falling  empire.  But  we  hope  better 
things ; that  the  same  God  who  can  turn  the  heart  of  man 
wheresoever  He  will,  will  send  a wise  and  a righteous  spirit 
over  the  government  of  public  affairs — that  the  country 
will  awaken  to  its  dangers — and  that  purity  and  patriotism 
will  at  length  preside  over  the  administration  of  its  interests. 

In  this  day  set  apart  for  the  expression  of  public  senti- 


84 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


ments,  you  should  rise  in  gratitude  to  the  Ruler  of  nations, 
that  mighty  Being  who  has  turned  the  battle  from  your 
gates ; who  has  singled  you  out  among  the  countries  of 
Europe,  and  given  you  the  exclusive  privilege  of  living  in 
peace  while  the  world  around  you  is  involved  in  all  the 
cruelty  and  turbulence  of  war.  I fear  that  none  of  us  have 
a lively  enough  conception  of  the  gratitude  that  we  ought 
to  feel  for  so  inestimable  a blessing — that  we  live  in  the 
bosom  of  domestic  tranquillity — that  we  have  no  midnight 
alarm  to  disturb  us — no  sound  of  horror  to  strike  upon  our 
ear,  and  keep  us  awake  and  trembling  in  the  agony  of  ap- 
prehension— no  moaning  of  wounded  acquaintances — no 
shrieks  of  the  dying  to  rend  the  heart  of  sensibility — no 
hostile  footsteps  to  warn  us  of  the  nearness  of  a brutal  and 
enraged  soldiery — no  loud  and  stormy  reproaches,  to  send 
anguish  into  the  mother’s  heart,  and  make  her  weep  in  the 
wildness  of  despair  over  the  members  of  her  shrinking  and 
devoted  family.  What  a picture  of  horror — the  seat  of 
war — when  the  marauding  army  of  the  conqueror  is  let 
loose  upon  the  country — when  they  separate  into  parties, 
and  each  singles  out  its  own  house  or  its  own  neighbor- 
hood as  the  object  of  its  brutality  and  its  vengeance — 
when  every  nerve  is  strained  to  deeds  of  barbarity — when 
pity  is  laughed  at  as  a weakness,  or  its  gentle  whispers  are 
drowned  in  the  wild  uproar  of  rapacity  and  desolation  and 
murder.  What  a contrast  to  the  country  in  which  we 
live  ! — what  a spectacle  of  peace  in  the  midst  of  a wild  and 
troubled  theater  ! What  would  not  the  houseless  victims 
of  Spain  give  for  the  warmth  and  security  of  our  dwell- 
ings ? — where  every  man  lives  under  his  own  vine  and  his 
own  fig-tree — where  he  steps  forth  in  the  morning  and 
prosecutes  in  safety  the  labors  of  the  day — where  he  re- 
turns in  the  evening,  and  has  his  peaceful  fireside  enlivened 
by  the  smiling  aspect  of  his  family  around  him — where  the 
Sabbath  morn  still  continues  to  bless  the  humble  abode  of 
the  poor  man  and  of  the  laborer — where  the  church-bell  is 
still  heard  to  waft  its  delightful  music  along  our  valleys,  and 
to  call  an  assembled  people  to  the  exercises  of  piety.  Let 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


85 


the  piety  of  this  day  be  gratitude  to  that  mighty  Being  who 
takes  up  the  hills  in  His  hands,  and  weighs  the  nations  in  a 
balance.  He  has  thrown  around  our  happy  country  the 
shelter  of  a protecting  ocean — He  has  mustered  His  own 
elements  to  defend  us.  The  green  island  of  the  north  sits 
in  the  bosom  of  security — it  hears  the  sound  of  the  battle 
from  afar,'  but  quietness  dwells  there,  and  peace  and  joy 
are  among  its  children. 

. Look  at  the  extent  of  Britain,  and  it  is  a speck  on  the 
surface  of  the  world.  Look  at  the  map,  and  it  appears 
like  an  humble  appendage  to  that  immense  continent  that 
is  in  arms  against  it.  Yet  how  high  it  stands  in  the  proud 
lists  of  glory — how  great  in  the  independence  of  its  empire 
— how  awful  in  the  thunder  of  its  power  that  is  heard  in 
the  remotest  corners  of  the  world — how  firm  in  the  patriot- 
ism and  intrepidity  of  its  people,  who  rally  round  the  stand- 
ard of  their  liberties,  and  maintain  the  name  and  the  dignity 
of  their  nation  against  the  fury  of  a devouring  ambition  ! 

We  have  to  thank  the  God  of  battles  that  Britain,  though 
deceived  perhaps  in  her  aspiring  wishes  for  the  liberties  of 
Europe — yet  that  Britain  herself  stands  as  secure  and  as 
independent  as  ever.  In  the  very  last  event  of  her  history 
there  may  have  been  disaster,  but  there  has  been  no  disgrace 
— there  may  have  been  loss,  but  there  has  been  no  infamy 
— there  may  have  been  retreat  from  the  power  of  numbers, 
but  even  this  retreat  has  been  emblazoned  in  the  splendors 
of  victory,  and  the  annals  of  our  country’s  renown  are 
crowded  with  the  names  of  dead  and  of  living  heroes. 
Grant  that  we  abandon  the  liberty  of  Europe — yet  the 
question  of  Britain’s  liberty  is  entire.  We  are  no  worse 
than  before.  The  enemy  does  not  stand  in  a more  menacing 
attitude — nor  does  invasion  lower  more  frightfully  than  at 
first  upon  our  beloved  island.  The  country  has  witnessed 
the  talent  and  the  prowess  of  our  commanders — its  con- 
fidence is  exalted.  Our  late  campaigns  have  furnished  a 
most  useful  accession  to  military  skill  and  military  experi- 
ence. That  alarm  which  seized  our  politicians  at  the  bug- 
bear of  our  commercial  embarrassments  has  subsided.  It 


86 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


is  not  above  a year  since  it  was  anticipated,  from  the  sus- 
pension of  all  intercourse  with  other  nations,  that  something 
in  the  shape  of  a convulsion  was  to  come  upon  the  country. 
The  convulsion  has  never  made  its  appearance — it  has 
spared  us  for  one  year,  and  it  will  spare  us  for  twenty,  if 
circumstances  impose  upon  us  the  necessity  of  prolonging 
the  experiment  to  such  an  extent.  The  public  interest  is 
as  flourishing  as  ever.  We  witness  the  same  animation  and 
extent  and  prosperity  in  all  the  departments,  both  of  the 
public  service  and  of  private  industry.  The  experience  of 
every  day  is  vindicating  to  the  eyes  of  the  world  the  inde- 
pendence of  our  resources,  and  that  we  have  a vigor  within 
which  is  native  and  inherent  and  imperishable. 

Do  not  think  that  I am  turning  your  attention  from  re- 
ligion to  politics.  I am  enumerating  the  circumstances  on 
which  your  prosperity  is  founded  ; but  I give  God  the  glory 
and  the  praise  for  being  the  author  of  these  circumstances. 
The  explanation  of  any  event  or  of  any  appearance  upon 
natural  principles  should  have  no  effect  whatever  in  extin- 
guishing piety.  I am  correct  in  saying,  that  we  enjoy  light 
in  the  day-time,  because  then  the  sun  is  above  the  horizon; 
but  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  I stop  short  at  this 
explanation — that  I forget  that  mighty  Being  who  gave  the 
sun  its  existence,  who  fixed  this  astonishing  mass  of  lumin- 
ous matter  in  the  center  of  our  system,  and  bade  it  give 
light  and  cheerfulness  and  joy  to  the  worlds  that  roll  around 
it.  I am  correct  in  saying  that  the  future  security  and  in- 
dependence of  our  empire  is  founded  on  the  patriotism  of 
our  people,  on  the  attachment  which  the  country  feels  to  its 
government,  and  on  the  extent  of  those  resources  which  it 
is  the  province  of  an  enlightened  economy  to  unfold  and  to 
establish;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  I overlook  God — that 
I withdraw  your  attention  from  Him  who  is  the  author  of 
all  facts  and  of  all  principles — that  I withhold  the  homage 
of  my  gratitude  and  my  piety  from  that  great  comprehen- 
sive power  that  presides  in  high  authority  over  the  moral 
as  well  as  over  the  material  universe — or  that  I offer  an 
idolatry  to  second  causes,  which  I would  take  away  from 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


87 


that  supreme  and  animating  mind  that  formed  all  things 
and  sustains  all  things. 

A dark  and  tremendous  uncertainty  hangs  over  the 
future  history  of  the  world.  Events  succeed  each  other 
with  a rapidity  that  absolutely  benumbs  the  faculties,  and 
annihilates  the  sensation  of  wonder.  As  much  happens  in 
the  space  of  a single  year,  as  would  formerly  have  been 
enough  to  signalize  a whole  century.  During  the  wars  of 
Frederick  of  Prussia,  all  Europe  hung  upon  his  enterprises 
— every  eye  was  turned  as  to  a splendid  theater,  where  the 
genius  and  intrepidity  of  a great  man  commanded  the 
homage  of  an  admiring  world,  and  the  report  of  his  vic- 
tories filled  all  people  with  terror  and  astonishment.  This 
same  Prussia  is  annihilated  in  the  space  of  a few  days — 
and  mark  the  difference  of  the  public  mind  : it  has  ceased  to 
be  spoken  of.  All  the  interest  and  wonder  and  novelty  of 
this  great  occurrence  evaporates  in  the  course  of  a single 
month.  The  attention  of  the  public  is  hurried  away  to 
other  objects — new  scenery  is  presented  to  engross  every 
eye  and  eclipse  the  memory  of  the  old.  The  mind  is 
fatigued  with  the  rapidity  of  the  succession — it  seeks  for 
repose  in  indifference — and  the  same  public  that  was  once 
so  feelingly  alive  to  the  fate  of  a ruined  kingdom  or  the  in- 
terests of  a trifling  principality,  would  now  slumber  in 
apathy  though  all  Europe  were  in  commotion,  and  its 
oldest  empires  fell  in  this  wild  war  of  turbulence  and  dis- 
order. 

Let  us  rise  in  gratitude  to  Heaven  that  we  stand  aloof 
from  this  theater  of  convulsions.  Our  security  depends 
upon  ourselves.  No  wisdom,  no  energy  can  save  us,  if  we 
flinch  from  the  cause  of  patriotism  and  virtue.  The  strength 
of  a country  lies  in  the  heart  of  its  inhabitants.  This  is  a 
day  of  fasting ; but  we  should  remember  that  to  fast  is  to 
repent,  and  to  repent  is  to  reform.  It  is  not  the  visionary 
reform  of  political  enthusiasts  that  I speak  of — it  is  a reform 
in  the  lives  and  hearts  of  individuals — that  reform  which 
would  settle  the  reign  of  integrity  in  the  councils  of  our 
nation,  and  would  settle  the  influence  of  piety  among  our 


88 


FAST-DAY  DISCOURSE. 


families  and  cottages — that  reform  which  would  descend 
to  your  children,  and  secure  the  character  of  yet  future 
ages — that  reform  of  which  every  great  man  should  give 
the  example  that  every  poor  man  should  be  proud  to  im- 
itate— that  reform  which  would  reconcile  all  the  orders  of 
the  community,  and  make  them  feel  that  they  had  but  one 
cause  and  one  interest — that  reform  which  would  banish 
prejudice  and  disaffection  from  the  land,  and  bind  to  the 
throne  of  a beloved  sovereign  the  homage  of  a virtuous  and 
affectionate  people. 


SERMON  VIII. 


[The  year  1810  was  the  transition  period  in  the  religious  history  of  Dr. 
Chalmers.  Death  had  thrice  entered  the  circle  of  his  nearest  relationship. 
He  himself  had  been  trembling  on  the  very  border  of  the  grave.  An  illness 
which  for  four  months  confined  him  to  his  room,  and  for  more  than  half  a 
year  rendered  him  unfit  for  all  public  duty,  had  brought  death  and  eternity 
very  near  to  his  thoughts.  He  was  engaged,  besides,  in  drawing  up  the 
article  “ Christianity”  for  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia — in  preparing  which, 
the  primitive  Christians — their  characters — their  lives — their  death — had 
become  the  object  of  an  intensely  interesting  contemplation.  Traces  of  all 
the  different  influences  to  which  he  was  thus  exposed,  as  well  as  of  the  effects 
produced  by  them,  reveal  themselves  in  the  two  succeeding  sermons,  and 
in  the  prayers  and  addresses  which  accompany  them — all  of  which  belong 
to  the  same  memorable  year.] 

PRAYER. 

We  desire,  O Lord,  to  pay  Thea  the  homage  of  our  humility  and 
of  our  gratitude — of  our  gratitude,  because  of  the  multitude  of  Thy 
mercies,  and  of  our  humility,  because  we  are  unworthy  of  the  least 
of  them.  We  are  the  feeble  insects  of  an  hour — Thou  art  the  Ancient 
of  days.  Thy  duration  has  no  end,  and  Thou  art  wrapt  up  in  the 
still  more  awful  mystery  of  having  never  had  a beginning.  The  little 
circle  in  which  we  move  is  but  a spot  in  the  immensity  of  Thy  works. 
Thy  presence  fills  all  space,  and  extends  through  the  immeasurable 
fields  of  creation.  All  the  powers  of  our  thought  and  of  our  attention 
are  taken  up  with  the  petty  interests  of  an  individual,  or  with  the 
humble  concerns  of  a family.  But  Thine  all-seeing  mind  is  every 
where  ; it  presides  in  high  authority  over  all  worlds ; it  takes  in  at  a 
single  glance  the  endless  varieties  of  life,  and  motion,  and  intelligence 
— nor  can  the  minutest  of  Thy  works  escape  for  a single  moment  Thy 
notice  and  Thy  direction. 

Blessed  be  Thy  name  we  are  permitted  to  approach  Thee.  We 
are  Thy  creatures,  and  have  the  privilege  of  Thy  mercy.  Thine 
all-seeing  eye  never  abandons  us — Thou  hast  given  us  a part  in  this 
wide  scene  of  magnificence  and  glory — Thou  hast  taught  us  to  confide 
in  Thy  goodness,  and  given  it  to  feeble,  wretched,  sinful  man  to  rejoice 
in  the  hand  that  formed,  and  in  the  right  hand  that  guides  and  sustains 
him. 


90 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


But  how  miserable  our  returns  of  gratitude  and  obedience ! Alas, 
we  have  corrupted  our  ways — we  are  children  of  guilt  and  disobedience. 
Look,  O Lord,  with  an  eye  of  pity  upon  our  weakness  and  upon  our 
errors.  Alas ! how  feeble,  how  capricious,  how  ineffectual  are  our 
best  attempts  to  love  and  to  serve  Thee  ! We  may  form  a momentary 
purpose  of  goodness,  but  it  is  speedily  lost  in  the  folly  and  dissipation 
of  the  world.  In  the  quietness  of  solitude  our  hearts  rise  to  Thee, 
and  taste  the  elevation  of  piety.  In  the  walks  of  active  life  this  lofti- 
ness of  sentiment  is  forgotten — we  mingle  in  the  pursuits  of  the  world, 
and  are  driven  along  by  the  vanity  of  its  perishable  interests.  In  the 
hour  of  sickness  we  shake  off  the  anxieties  of  time,  and  take  a near 
and  an  intimate  view  of  the  vast  eternity  which  lies  before  us.  In 
the  hour  of  health  the  infatuation  returns — we  place  death  and  eternity 
at  a distance  ; we  get  surrounded  with  the  variety  of  this  world’s  ob- 
jects— they  exert  an  irresistible  dominion  over  our  senses — time  be- 
comes every  thing,  and  eternity  nothing.  The  futurity  which  lies  on 
the  other  side  of  time  and  of  the  grave  is  never  thought  of,  or  never 
thought  of  with  improvement.  We  lose  all  the  impression,  all  the 
earnestness  of  our  religious  convictions ; this  world  lords  it  over  us. 
Are  we  grieved?  it  is  at  this  world’s  disappointments.  Are  we  angry  ? 
it  is  at  this  world’s  provocations.  Are  we  glad  ? it  is  at  this  world’s 
prosperity.  Are  we  thoughtful  ? it  is  about  this  world’s  paltry  and 
evanescent  interests.  The  mind  loses  its  elevation ; it  lets  itself  down 
from  the  grandeur  of  eternity ; it  becomes  a slave  to  the  delusions  of 
time,  and  suffers  the  vanities  of  an  instant  to  engross  all  its  cares  and 
all  its  anxiety. 

We  lament  before  Thee,  O Lord,  our  hardened  indifference  in  mat- 
ters of  religion — that  we  should  be  so  blind  to  the  importance  and  the 
magnitude  of  its  interests — that  it  should  occupy  so  small  a portion  of 
our  anxiety — that  eternity  should  so  seldom  be  present  to  our  thoughts, 
while  this  world,  and  the  things  of  this  world,  are  suffered  to  exert  an 
entire  dominion  over  all  our  desires  and  all  our  faculties.  Deliver  us, 
O Lord,  from  an  infatuation  so  ruinous,  so  unreasonable,  so  unworthy 
of  beings  capable  of  wisdom  and  of  reflection,  and  all  of  whom  have  a 
death  to  endure  and  an  immortality  to  prepare  for.  Fill  our  hearts 
with  serious  and  permanent  and  habitual  impressions  of  religion.  May 
it  be  something  more  than  the  momentary  impulse  of  an  occasion — 
something  more  than  that  momentary  feeling  which  is  excited  by  the 
eloquence  of  a sermon,  the  enthusiasm  of  a prayer,  or  the  elevation 
of  a mind  which  gives  an  hour  to  retirement,  and  forms  its  romantic 
purposes  at  a distance  from  the  cares  and  distractions  of  the  world — 
something  more  than  that  holy  rapture  which  kindles  in  the  bosom 
when  the  table  of  the  Lord  is  spread,  and  the  man  of  God  invites  us  to 
approach  it — something  more  than  those  sweet  and  heavenly  emotions 
which  so  often  fill  the  heart  of  the  Christian  in  the  solitude  of  a Sab- 
bath evening,  when  quietness  is  on  all  the  hills,  and  every  thing  breathes 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


91 


peace  and  piety  around  him.  May  the  preparations  of  solitude  tell 
upon  our  conduct  in  the  walks  of  business  and  society.  May  the 
principles  which  are  formed  in  retirement  have  vigor  to  withstand  the 
difficulties  of  life  and  the  formidable  temptations  of  the  world. 

May  our  religion  not  be  confined  to  the  solemnity  of  ordinances. 
May  its  empire  be  established  in  our  hearts.  May  it  reign  supreme 
over  the  thoughts  and  purposes  and  affections.  May  it  be  with  us  in 
solitude  as  well  as  in  society — in  the  house  of  business  as  well  as  in 
the  house  of  prayer  and  the  meetings  of  the  solemn  assembly.  Let 
it  be  the  study  of  our  lives  to  advance  the  honor  of  the  true  religion, 
and  to  extend  its  influence  in  the  world ; and  may  we  ever  remember 
that  the  most  effectual  method  of  recommending  it  to  the  world  is  to 
hold  out  to  its  view  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness.  May  it  be 
the  study  of  our  lives  to  hold  out  a graceful  and  an  alluring  picture  of 
Christianity  to  the  world — to  let  the  world  see  what  the  religion  of  Jesus 
is  capable  of  effecting — what  worth  and  what  embellishment  it  gives 
to  the  character  of  every  true  disciple — what  graces  adorn  the  walks 
both  of  his  private  and  his  public  histoiy — the  honor  which  reigns  over 
all  his  transactions — his  noble  integrity  in  business— the  generous 
humanity  with  which  he  devotes  his  time  and  attention  to  the  interests 
of  the  species — the  pure  and  unsullied  temperance  of  his  life — the 
virtuous  authority  with  which  he  discharges  the  duties  of  a father,  a 
master,  and  a husband — the  quietness  of  his  happy  home,  where  affec- 
tion reigns  in  every  heart,  and  peace  sheds  a holy  calm  over  the  feel- 
ings and  tempers  of  a united  family. 

LEVITICUS  XXVI.  34. 

“Then  shall  the  land  enjoy  her  sabbaths,  as  long  as  it  lieth  desolate,  and  ye  be  in  youi 
enemies’  land ; even  then  shall  the  land  rest,  and  enjoy  her  sabbaths.” 

The  rest  which  was  promised  to  the  land  of  Israel  is  very 
different  from  the  rest  which  we  enjoy.  The  land  was  to 
rest  in  the  absence  of  its  people.  It  was  to  rest  for  the 
wickedness  of  its  people,  while  they  were  suffering  under 
all  the  horrors  of  captivity  and  imprisonment.  It  was  not 
the  calm  and  peaceful  tranquillity  under  which  we  live ; it 
was  the  silence  of  desolation  ; it  was  the  calm  which  follows 
after  the  horrors  of  a tempest ; it  was  the  stillness  of  a de- 
populated country — the  gloomy  picture  of  ruined  towns  and 
deserted  villages,  where  the  battle  had  just  ceased  to  rage, 
and  the  sword  had  accomplished  the  work  of  slaughter  and 
extermination.  How  different  from  the  smiling  aspect  of 
the  country  around  us  ! I wish  to  call  your  attention  to  it, 


92 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


that  you  may  rise  in  gratitude  to  the  God  of  all  your  mer- 
cies, because  he  has  kept  the  battle  from  your  gates — be- 
cause you  enjoy  your  sacraments  in  peace,  and  the  quiet- 
ness of  the  Sabbath  morn  still  continues  to  bless  the  humble 
abodes  of  the  poor  man  and  of  the  laborer.  You  live,  as 
your  fathers  did  before  you,  in  the  bosom  of  security — you 
have  quietness  in  your  dwellings — the  sound  of  the  church- 
bell  is  still  heard  to  waft  its  peaceful  music  through  the  val- 
ley in  which  we  live — the  people  repair  to  the  house  of 
God,  wThere  they  may  join  in  the  praises  of  their  Redeemer 
without  danger  and  without  interruption.  How  fresh  the 
morning  of  this  hallowed  day  ! The  sun  has  mounted  high 
in  the  firmament  of  heaven.  Peacefulness  rests  on  the 
bosom  of  every  field — the  sound  of  the  battle  is  afar.  Every 
thing  speaks  the  goodness  of  the  most  High — and  that  the 
sheltering  arm  of  the  Omnipotent  is  around  us.  He  is  in 
this  house  ; His  eye  is  continually  upon  us : “ Where  two 
or  three  are  met  together,  there  I will  be  with  you.”  He 
will  receive  the  penitence  and  the  praises  of  an  assembled 
people  : He  marks  the  purposes  of  every  heart : His  eye  is 
upon  the  young  when  they  lift  their  holy  prayer,  and  breathe 
the  purposes  of  piety. 

The  solemnity  of  a communion  Sabbath  has  always  im- 
pressed me  as  the  most  decent  and  affecting  of  all  specta- 
cles— when  we  see  the  Christians  of  all  ranks  and  of  all 
ages  sitting  down  at  the  table  and  joining  in  the  common 
prayer  of  penitence  and  of  piety — celebrating  the  praises 
of  that  Redeemer  who  died  for  them — and  obeying  the  sa- 
cred call  which  He  left  in  charge  to  His  disciples : “ Do 
this  in  remembrance  of  me — do  this  till  I come  again.”  You 
are  doing  what  your  fathers  have  done  before  you,  and  what 
your  children  will  continue  to  do  after  you.  The  name  of 
the  Lord  will  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance.  The 
ordinance  of  the  Supper  will  be  kept  up  till  the  end  of  the 
world — till  He  comes  again,  and  the  sound  of  the  last 
trumpet  announces  the  termination  of.  all  things. 

The  best  evidence  of  our  gratitude  for  the  peace  which 
we  enjoy  in  celebrating  the  sacrament,  is  to  celebrate  the 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


93 


sacrament  aright ; and  for  this  purpose  let  me  study  to  im- 
press upon  you  a few  of  those  sentiments  which  this  im- 
portant and  affecting  ordinance  is  calculated  to  awaken. 

The  first  sentiment  which  I shall  endeavor  to  impress 
upon  you  is  a sentiment  of  thankfulness.  The  second  is  a 
sentiment  of  pious  obedience  to  the  law  of  Heaven.  The 
third  is  a sentiment  of  the  vanity  of  time ; and  of  the  im- 
portance of  religion,  which  reaches  beyond  time,  and  dis- 
closes to  us  the  splendors  of  an  everlasting  world. 

The  first  sentiment  which  I shall  attempt  to  impress  upon 
you  is  a sentiment  of  thankfulness.  You  are  the  creatures 
of  grace  and  of  forgiveness ; you  are  the  helpless  victims 
of  your  own  feebleness.  You  had  thrown  yourselves  out 
from  the  approbation  of  God  and  the  hopes  of  immortality. 
Nothing  awaited  you  but  a fearful  looking  for  of  judgment, 
and  utter  exclusion  from  the  Redeemer’s  kingdom.  Every 
day  you  offend  the  God  of  your  mercies,  and  every  hour 
of  your  life  you  come  short  of  His  glory.  The  degeneracy 
of  man  is  a doctrine  too  humble  for  the  admirers  of  a self- 
sufficient  and  ostentatious  philosophy.  It  is  not  fashionable. 
It  wants  elegance  to  recommend  it,  and  some  fine  genius  to 
throw  around  it  the  graces  and  the  embellishments  of  ora- 
tory. There  are  some  who  turn  from  the  humility  of  the 
gospel  with  repugnance  and  disgust — who  delight  to  expa- 
tiate in  the  higher  fields  of  eloquence  and  sentiment,  and 
ravish  the  ears  of  a cultivated  audience  with  the  beauties 
of  virtue  and  the  dignity  of  that  mind  which  can  maintain 
the  rectitude  of  its  own  purposes.  But  we  have  only  to 
open  our  eyes  and  be  convinced  that  this  is  the  mockery 
of  a warm  imagination — that  however  beautiful  the  picture, 
it  wants  truth  to  support  it ; that  it  is  not  confirmed  by  the 
evidence  of  observation ; and  however  much  we  may  love 
to  dwell  on  the  fancied  scenes  of  perfection,  they  want  both 
the  gravity  of  wisdom  and  the  sobriety  of  experience.  No, 
my  brother,  there  is  no  getting  over  it.  Man  is  corrupt, 
and  the  testimony  of  every  thing  around  us  loudly  proclaims 
it.  We  have  only  to  consult  our  own  hearts,  and  to  take  a 
lesson  from  the  testimony  of  our  own  senses.  In  every 


94 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


thing  we  see  a want  of  firmness — a want  of  perseverance 
— a number  of  melancholy  backslidings  from  the  path  of 
obedience — an  insensibility  to  the  awful  considerations  of 
heaven  and  immortality — an  estrangement  from  God — an 
entire  slavery  of  the  mind  to  the  trifles  of  sense  and  of  time 
— and  a thousand  examples  of  wickedness  which  proclaim 
our  principles  to  be  unhinged,  and  the  moral  constitution  of 
man  to  be  enfeebled.  With  such  a multitude  of  testimonies' 
before  you,  can  you  deny  the  necessity  of  a Saviour — can 
you  deny  the  homage  of  your  gratitude  to  that  mighty  Being 
who  came  to  relieve  you  from  this  body  of  death,  and  to 
unbar  the  gates  of  immortality  to  a despairing  world  ? You 
had  corrupted  your  ways ; you  had  relapsed  into  disobedi- 
ence. The  offense  of  our  first  parents  had  entailed  feeble- 
ness upon  all  their  posterity — the  whole  heart  was  sick  and 
the  whole  head  was  sore — and  man  stood  the  trembling  vic- 
tim of  his  own  disobedience,  ready  to  be  crushed  by  the  fin- 
ger of  Omnipotence,  and  to  appease  the  fury  of  an  offended 
Lawgiver.  But  a Star  appeared  in  the  east.  The  day- 
spring from  on  high  visited  us.  A voice  was  heard  pro- 
claiming glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth,  and 
good-will  to  the  children  of  men.  Our  Saviour  came  down 
from  heaven.  He  left  the  bosom  of  His  father — He  re- 
signed the  glories  of  His  nature — He  arrayed  himself  in  the 
garb  of  humanity — He  took  upon  Him  the  infirmities  of  a 
man — He  made  Himself  of  no  reputation,  and  became  obe- 
dient unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.  And  He  died 
that  we  might  live — He  died  for  the  salvation  of  a world 
from  which  He  received  nothing  but  persecution  and  in- 
gratitude— He  died  to  accomplish  the  benevolent  purposes 
of  heaven — He  died  to  establish  the  reign  of  mercy  and  to 
restore  the  children  of  Adam  to  the  smiles  of  a reconciled 
Father.  You  weep  over  the  recollection  of  His  sufferings. 
You  rise  in  gratitude  to  the  God  who  created,  and  to  the 
Saviour  who  died  for  you.  Your  hearts  warm  within  you 
when  you  touch  the  affecting  memorials  of  His  death — and 
may  you  prize  His  last  words  as  the  best  of  legacies : “ Do 
this  in  rememberance  of  me ; do  this  till  I come  again.” 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


95 


The  next  sentiment  which  I shall  attempt  to  impress  upon 
you  is  a sentiment  of  pious  obedience  to  the  law  of  heaven. 
It  is  quite  in  vain  to  say  that  the  faith  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment excludes  obedience.  Faith  gives  new  vigor  to  your 
obedience.  It  is  the  principle  of  obedience,  and  obedience 
is  the  best  evidence  of,  and  the  best  testimony  to  the  purity 
of  your  faith.  What  faith  could  be  livelier  than  that  of  the 
primitive  Christians  ; and  where,  I would  ask,  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  Church,  shall  we  find  obedience  more  perfect, 
more  zealous,  more  persevering,  and  more  steadily  main- 
tained in  opposition  to  all  the  dangers  of  persecution,  and 
to  all  the  terrors  of  the  world  ? Did  the  apostles  of  Christ- 
ianity conceive  that  the  faith  of  their  Master  exempted  them 
from  the  law  of  obedience?  They  had  faith  ; but  did  this 
faith  extinguish  their  activity — did  it  render  them  indiffer- 
ent to  duty  and  to  practice — did  it  set  them  loose  from  the 
restraints  of  morality — or  did  it  exempt  them  from  the  labors 
of  a life  spent  in  the  exercise  of  Christian  virtues,  and  de- 
voted to  the  maintenance  of  its  cause?  Take  the  Apostle 
Paul  for  an  example.  Whose  faith  more  ardent,  and  whose 
life  at  the  same  time  more  laborious  ? He  did  not  spend 
his  time  in  the  indolence  of  speculation.  He  had  faith  ; but 
faith  was  not  enough  for  him.  His  life  was  spent  in  the 
duties  of  an  active  profession ; he  went  about  preaching  to 
all  nations,  and  in  so  doing  he  gave  an  example  of  practi- 
cal obedience  ; he  gave  the  example  of  a good  work,  and  in 
so  doing  he  rendered  it  evident  to  all  succeeding  Christians 
that  good  works  form  a necessary  part  of  religion.  In  the 
performance  of  this  good  work  he  braved  every  danger ; 
he  set  his  face  to  every  difficulty  ; he  spent  a life  of  the 
most  unwearied  exertion,  and  taught  us  by  his  own  exam- 
ple that  to  be  a Christian  is  something  more  than  to  believe 
— that  it  is  to  do,  and  to  practice,  and  to  obey.  You  are 
also  called  upon  to  the  performance  of  good  works  ; and 
remember  that  you  have  not  the  same  difficulties  to  oppose 
your  progress,  or  to  damp  your  ardor  in  the  service  of 
Christ.  It  is  a good  work  that  you  are  at  present  engaged 
in.  You  are  sitting  at  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  in  so  doing 


96 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


you  are  going  through  an  active  obedience ; you  are  per- 
forming a duty ; you  are  giving  an  example  of  allegiance 
to  the  law  of  the  gospel ; you  are  obeying  one  of  the  com- 
mandments— Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me  ; do  this  till  I 
come  again.  Let  me  never  hear  then  of  any  contempt  for 
practical  righteousness.  If  works  are  to  be  excluded  from 
the  system  of  Christianity,  why  undertake  the  work  in  which 
you  are  at  present  engaged — why  join  in  the  sacrament  ? 
for  what  is  the  sacrament  but  an  example  of  practical  obe- 
dience, and  an  observance  of  one  of  those  laws  which  our 
Saviour  left  in  charge  to  His  disciples?  But  remember 
that  it  is  not  the  only  law  which  you  are  called  upon  to  ob- 
serve. There  are  other  laws,  there  are  other  duties,  there 
are  other  acts  of  obedience  which  deserve  your  attention, 
and  the  neglect  of  which  would  render  the  sacrament  use- 
less, and  the  profession  that  you  now  make  an  idle  mockery 
in  the  face  of  heaven.  For  what  purpose  do  you  sit  at  the 
table  of  the  Lord  ? — Is  it  not  to  testify  your  gratitude  for 
the  benefits  of  His  redeeming  mercy  ? Now,  is  it  possible 
that  you  can  be  sincerely  thankful  to  a Being  whose  author- 
ity you  trample  on,  whose  will  you  disregard,  whose  com- 
mandments you  violate  ? No,  my  brethren,  there  is  no  get- 
ting over  it.  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  God.  The 
necessity  of  practical  righteousness  may  be  seen  in  every 
page  of  the  New  Testament.  The  same  authority  that 
calls  upon  you  to  join  in  the  sacrament,  also  calls  upon  you 
to  attend  to  the  duties  of  ordinary  life. — Do  to  others  as  you 
would  wish  them  to  do  to  you. — Speak  not  evil  one  of  an- 
other.— In  brotherly  love  and  in  honor  prefer  one  another. 
— Behave  peaceably  to  all  men. — Visit  the  fatherless  and 
the  widow  in  their  afflictions,  and  keep  yourselves  unspot- 
ted from  the  world.  Why  do  you  annex  so  high  a rever- 
ence to  the  sacrament,  while  those  plain  and  everyday 
duties  come  in  for  no  share  of  your  reverence  at  all  ? Why 
do  you  look  upon  the  sacrament  as  such  a solemn,  such  an 
important,  such  an  affecting  ordinance,  while  you  let  slip 
the  duties  of  charity,  and  justice,  and  plain  dealing — duties 
which  are  certainly  as  much  insisted  upon  in  the  New  Tes- 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


9? 


tament,  and  to  which  our  Saviour  annexes  as  high  an  im- 
portance as  to  any  ordinance  of  His  appointment.  I do 
allow  that  there  is  something  impressive  and  affecting  in  the 
very  nature  of  a sacrament.  It  occurs  seldom,  and  this  has 
the  effect  of  giving  it  great  additional  solemnity  ; and,  at  all 
events,  there  is  something  in  the  highest  degree  serious  and 
interesting  in  seeing  a multitude  of  Christians  assembled  foi 
the  common  purpose  of  expressing  penitence  for  their  sins, 
and  gratitude  to  the  Saviour  who  died  for  them.  But  I 
must  think,  in  addition  to  all  this,  that  there  is  another  rea- 
son which  makes  Christians  more  punctual  in  the  observ- 
ance of  the  sacrament  than  the  other  duties  of  the  Christian 
life.  The  sacrament  is  a duty  that  can  be  more  easily  per- 
formed. I do  not  say  that  it  is  easier  to  perform  this  duty 
aright ; for  in  performing  it  aright  you  must  yield  the  sub- 
mission of  your  hearts  to  the  whole  law  and  obedience  of 
the  gospel.  But  I say  that  it  is  easier  to  perform  this  duty 
aright  to  the  eyes  of  the  world,  than  to  maintain  the  other 
virtues  of  the  Christian  character.  It  is  easier  to  sit  down 
at  the  table  of  the  Lord — to  maintain  an  appearance  of  great 
reverence  and  great  decency — to  handle  the  symbols  of  a 
Redeemer’s  death — to  go  through  all  the  established  form- 
alities of  this  ordinance  : it  is  easier  even  to  weep  at  the 
affecting  remembrance  of  what  He  did  and  what  He  suffer 
ed,  and  to  be  powerfully  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of 
the  occasion — I say  it  is  easier  to  do  and  to  feel  all  this  than 
it  is  to  maintain  an  upright  walk  and  conversation  in  the 
world — to  maintain  integrity  in  your  dealings — to  be  char 
itable  and  humane  to  your  poorer  brethren — to  be  sober  and 
temperate  in  your  conduct — to  abstain  from  theft,  and  cal 
umny,  and  injustice — to  resist  the  allurements  of  selfishness 
and  gain — to  measure  every  step  of  your  ordinary  conduct 
by  the  commandments  of  our  Saviour — to  bring  every 
thought  into  the  captivity  of  the  obedience  of  His  law. 
Now,  why  would  you  do  the  one  while  you  leave  the  other 
undone  ? Why  would  you  observe  the  sacrament,  and  neg- 
lect the  other  duties  of  the  Christian  character  ? Why  would 
you  mind  the  appointed  fast,  while  you  neglect  the  weightier 
VOL.  vi. — E 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


matters  of  the  law — justice  and  mercy  and  faith?  The 
reason,  I am  afraid,  is  too  plain.  You  would  gladly  get  off 
with  the  easier,  while  you  shrink  from  the  more  difficult 
parts  of  obedience.  You  would  like  to  serve  your  Maker 
with  as  little  trouble  and  fatigue  as  possible ; you  would 
like  to  get  to  heaven  as  smoothly  as  you  can,  and  discharge 
the  burden  of  religious  obligation  at  the  least  possible  ex- 
pense. Now  is  this  your  gratitude  to  your  Saviour  ? Is 
this  the  high  reverence  that  you  feel  for  Him  who  suffered 
and  bled  for  you  ? Is  this  the  whole  amount  of  those  fine 
professions  that  you  make  at  His  table  to  love  and  to  honor 
Him  ? Yes  ! you  will  honor  Him  while  it  is  easy  ; you  will 
obey  Him  when  He  calls  for  a light  sacrifice.  But  if  it  is 
a heavy  commandment — if  it  is  some  painful  sacrifice  that 
He  requires  of  you — then  you  would  gladly  get  off.  How 
different  from  the  example  of  the  primitive  Christians ! 
They  obeyed  our  Saviour  in  what  was  difficult ; they  re- 
signed every  interest  for  His  service  ; they  bade  adieu  to 
the  world,  and  to  all  its  joys ; they  were  ready  to  surren- 
der life  in  the  maintenance  of  the  Christian  profession.  Let 
us  imitate  their  example.  We  have  not  the  same  hardships 
to  encounter ; we  have  not  the  same  difficulties  to  oppose 
our  progress.  Let  us  enter  with  cheerfulness  into  all  the 
struggles  of  the  Christian  warfare  ; and  as  we  have  dis- 
charged the  easier  part  of  the  law  by  sitting  down  at  the 
table  of  the  Lord,  let  us  discharge  the  more  difficult  parts 
of  the  law  by  being  honest  in  all  our  transactions  with  the 
world,  diligent  in  the  performance  of  every  social  duty, 
humble  and  condescending  to  our  brethren  of  mankind, 
generous  to  the  poor,  and  maintaining  in  every  situation 
assigned  us  by  Providence  a life  and  conversation  becom- 
ing the  gospel. 

Again,  another  sentiment  which  I shall  attempt  to  impress 
upon  your  feelings  is  the  vanity  of  time.  It  is  a sentiment 
which  the  recurrence  of  a yearly  ordinance  is  well  calcu- 
lated to  awaken.  We  live  in  the  land  of  mortality,  and 
neither  rank  nor  age  can  escape  its  ravages.  Every  year 
the  communion  table  presents  us  with  a new  spectacle- 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


99 


Some  new  communicants  come  forward  to  offer  their  first 
vows,  and  some  old  ones  have  disappeared  for  ever.  Chris- 
tians who  were  seen  last  year  to  live  and  to  move  and  to 
handle  the  symbols  of  redeeming  mercy,  are  now  molder- 
ing  in  the  churchyard.  Their  friends  have  wept  over  them, 
and  the  grave-digger  has  performed  for  them  the  last  offices. 
The  change  is  gradual,  and  fails  to  impress  us  ; but  in  a few 
years  the  change  will  be  complete.  Another  people  will 
sit  at  that  table,  and  another  minister  will  speak  to  them. 
We  shall  be  all  lying  in  quietness  together,  and  a new 
generation  of  men  will  tread  upon  our  graves.  It  appears 
to  us  a distant  futurity,  but  the  lapse  of  a few  seasons  will 
bring  it  round.  The  sun  holds  his  unvaried  course  in  the 
firmament  of  heaven ; he  marks  the  footsteps  of  time,  and 
the  span  of  a few  revolutions  will  bring  us  to  our  destiny. 
Man  hastens  to  his  end,  and  in  a little  time  the  grave  will 
receive  him  into  its  peaceful  bosom.  In  this  day  of  so- 
lemnity you  should  think  of  the  mutability  of  all  things.  You 
should  think  of  that  country  to  which  you  are  fast  hasten- 
ing. You  should  listen  to  the  voice  of  wisdom  which  pro- 
claims the  vanity  of  the  world,  and  tells  every  man  among 
us  that  it  is  not  here  where  the  firm  footing  of  his  interest 
lies. 

Come,  then,  commemorate  the  melancholy  changes  which 
are  carrying  on  around  us  in  this  scene  of  weakness  and 
mortality.  Where  are  the  men  of  the  generation  that  is 
past?  They,  like  ourselves,  were  eager  in  the  pursuit  of 
this  world’s  phantoms,  active  in  business,  intent  on  the 
speculations  of  policy  and  state,  led  astray  by  the  glitter 
of  ambition,  and  devoted  to  the  joys  of  sense  or  of  senti- 
ment. Where  are  the  men,  who  a few  years  ago  gave 
motion  and  activity  to  this  busy  theater?  where  those  hus- 
bandmen who  lived  on  the  ground  that  you  now  occupy  ? 
where  those  laboring  poor  who  dwelt  in  your  houses  and 
villages  ? where  those  ministers  who  preached  the  lessons 
of  piety  and  talked  of  the  vanity  of  this  world  ? where  those 
people  who,  on  the  Sabbaths  of  other  times,  assembled  at 
the  sound  of  the  church-bell,  and  filled  the  house  in  which 


100 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


you  are  now  sitting  ? Their  habitation  is  the  cold  grave — 
the  land  of  forgetfulness  and  of  silence.  Their  name  is 
forgotten  in  the  earth,  their  very  children  have  lost  the 
remembrance  of  them.  The  labors  of  their  hands  are  cov- 
ered with  moss,  or  destroyed  by  the  injuries  of  time.  And 
we  are  the  children  of  these  fathers,  and  heirs  to  the  same 
awful  and  stupendous  destiny.  Ours  is  one  of  the  many 
generations  who  pass  in  rapid  succession  through  this  region 
of  life  and  of  sensibility.  The  time  in  which  I live  is  but  a 
small  moment  of  this  world’s  history.  When  we  rise  in 
contemplation  to  the  roll  of  ages  that  are  past,  the  moment- 
ary being  of  an  individual  shrinks  into  nothing.  It  is  the 
flight  of  a shadow  ; it  is  a dream  of  vanity  ; it  is  the  rapid 
glance  of  a meteor ; it  is  a flower  which  every  breath  of 
heaven  can  wither  into  decay;  it  is  a tale  which  as  a 
remembrance  vanishes ; it  is  a day  which  the  silence  of  a 
long  night  will  darken  and  overshadow.  In  a few  years 
our  heads  will  be  laid  in  the  cold  grave,  and  the  green  turf 
will  cover  us.  The  children  who  come  after  us'  will  tread 
upon  our  graves  ; they  will  weep  for  us  a few  days  ; they 
will  talk  of  us  a few  months  ; they  will  remember  us  a few 
years ; when  our  memory  shall  disappear  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  not  a tongue  shall  be  found  to  recall  it.  Now, 
one  use  to  which  we  should  apply  the  recurrence  of  a 
solemn  and  yearly  ordinance  is  to  recall  the  flight  of  time, 
and  the  rapid  disappearance  of  its  vain  and  perishable 
glories.  There  is  a blind  and  melancholy  infatuation  upon 
this  subject.  How  perishable  is  human  life ; yet  no  man 
lays  it  to  heart.  Death  multiplies  around  us,  and  we  look 
on  with  a wretched  indifference.  Acquaintances  fall  every 
year,  and  we  resist  the  impressive  warnings  of  mortality. 
Even  under  the  pressure  of  age  and  of  infirmity,  we  turn 
our  eyes  from  our  latter  end,  and  count  upon  many  days 
of  enjoyment.  When  the  people  carry  a neighbor  to  his 
grave,  their  talk  is  of  this  world  and  of  this  world’s  business. 
And  when  they  see  the  earth  close  over  him,  and  take  leave 
of  an  acquaintance  for  ever,  they  recur  every  man  to  his 
own  work,  and  in  a few  hours  it  is  forgotten. 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


101 


It  strikes  me  as  the  most  impressive  of  all  sentiments — 
that  it  will  be  all  the  same  a hundred  years  after  this.  It 
's  often  uttered  in  the  form  of  a proverb,  and  with  the  levity 
of  a mind  that  is  not  aware  of  its  importance.  A hundred 
years  after  this  ! Good  heavens  ! with  what  speed  and  with 
what  certainty  will  those  hundred  years  come  to  their  ter- 
mination. This  day  will  draw  to  a close,  and  a number  of 
days  makes  up  one  revolution  of  the  seasons.  Year  follows 
year,  and  a number  of  years  makes  up  a century.  These 
little  intervals  of  time  accumulate  and  fill  up  that  mighty 
space  which  appears  to  the  fancy  so  big  and  so  immeasur- 
able. The  hundred  years  will  come,  and  they  will  see  out 
the  wreck  of  whole  generations.  Every  living  thing  that 
now  moves  on  the  face  of  the  earth  will  disappear  from  it. 
The  infant  that  now  hangs  on  his  mother’s  bosom  will  only 
live  in  the  remembrance  of  his  grandchildren.  The  scene 
of  life  and  of  intelligence  that  is  now  before  me  will  be 
changed  into  the  dark  and  loathsome  forms  of  corruption. 
The  people  who  now  hear  me,  they  will  cease  to  be  spoken 
of ; their  memory  will'perish  from  the  face  of  the  country  ; 
their  flesh  will  be  devoured  with  worms  ; the  dark  and 
creeping  things  that  live  in  the  holes  of  the  earth  will  feed 
upon  their  bodies ; their  coffins  will  have  moldered  away, 
and  their  bones  be  thrown  up  in  the  new  made  grave.  And 
is  this  the  consummation  of  all  things?  Is  this  the  final 
end  and  issue  of  man  ? Is  this  the  upshot  of  his  busy 
history?  Is  there  nothing  beyond  time  and  the  grave  to 
alleviate  the  gloomy  picture,  to  chase  away  these  dismal 
images  ? Must  we  sleep  for  ever  in  the  dust,  and  bid  an 
eternal  adieu  to  the  light  of  heaven  ? 

ADDRESS. 

Among  the  last  words  which  our  Saviour  addressed  to  His 
disciples,  He  said — “ If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  command- 
ments.” You  are  now  keeping  one  of  Hi3  commandments, 
and  you  do  well.  You  are  sitting  at  His  table ; you  are 
approaching  Him  in  that  sacrament  which  He  Himself  has 


102 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


instituted ; you  are  making  a solemn  profession  of  your 
faith  and  your  gratitude  and  your  obedience  ; you  are  test- 
ifying your  allegiance  to  Him  who  suffered  and  who  died 
for  you  ; you  are  keeping  up  His  remembrance  in  the  world, 
and  fulfilling  the  dying  request  of  the  best  and  the  kindest 
of  masters — “ Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me  ; do  this  till  I 
come  again.” 

This  commandment  is  not  grievous.  It  is  delightful  to 
withdraw  from  the  harassing  perplexities  of  this  world,  and 
to  rise  to  a foretaste  and  anticipation  of  that  eternal  feast 
which  is  prepared  for  us  in  a better.  It  is  delightful  in  this 
world  of  mortality,  where  friends  and  acquaintances  are 
fast  dropping  away  from  us,  to  make  an  intimate  approach 
to  the  truest  of  all  friends,  who  never  dies,  and  will  never 
abandon  us.  On  this  day,  when  all  nature  smiles  around 
us,  and  an  unclouded  sunshine  reposes  on  every  hill  and 
on  every  valley,  it  is  delightful  to  look  forward  to  the  still 
brighter  days  which  the  light  of  prophecy  and  of  revelation 
has  laid  before  us.  This  day  will  soon  draw  to  its  termin- 
ation, and  the  clouds  of  evening  encompass  our  dwelling ; 
this  delicious  season  of  the  year  will  soon  pass  away,  and 
the  lowering  face  of  winter  look  black  and  dreadful  upon 
us ; this  fair  and  unclouded  weather  which  gives  so  much 
gayety  to  the  light  and  cheerful  imagination,  will  soon  be 
dissipated,  and  the  rushing  of  the  storm  be  heard  upon  our 
windows.  Nature,  and  all  the  joys  which  nature  inspires, 
are  deceitful  and  transitory.  The  buoyancy  which  a fine 
day  gives  to  the  animal  spirits  is  but  a momentary  elevation 
of  the  heart.  It  may  soon  expire  in  the  deepest  melancholy 
— it  lies  at  the  mercy  of  every  fluctuation.  By  resting  upon 
it  you  make  yourself  the  creature  of  time  and  its  never- 
ending  vicissitudes.  The  way  to  gain  stability  to  your 
happiness  is  to  rise  from  nature  to  nature’s  God — from  the 
vanities  of  time  to  the  unfading  splendors  of  eternity — from 
the  joys  of  this  world  to  the  joys  of  heaven — from  the  little 
play  of  human  passions  and  interests  to  the  grand  business 
of  moral  and  religious  discipline — to  the  sublime  pleasures 
of  faith  and  of  devotion — to  that  peace  which  the  world 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


103 


knoweth  not,  and  that  elevation  of  heart  which  passeth  all 
understanding. 

You  see  how  the  very  words  of  the  institution  guide  our 
wandering  spirits  to  that  rest  and  that  immortality  which 
we  all  aspire  after — ■“  Do  this  till  I come  again.”  What  a 
delightful  anticipation  do  these  words  inspire  us  with.  How 
calculated  to  reanimate  the  heart  of  the  believer,  and  to 
sustain  the  weary  and  dejected  spirit  when  oppressed  by 
the  anxieties  of  the  world.  He  will  come  again  in  glory — • 
armed  with  terror,  it  is  true,  against  the  children  of  dis- 
obedience— but  in  all  the  mildness  of  His  tender  and  indul- 
gent character  to  the  worthy  partakers  of  His  sacrament. 
And  when  He  comes  again  He  will  take  you  to  Himself, 
He  will  establish  you  in  the  everlasting  mansions  of  peace 
and  of  righteousness,  He  will  clothe  you  in  the  bloom 
and  the  vigor  of  immortality,  He  will  wipe  away  every 
tear  from  your  eyes,  and  bid  every  anxiety  of  your  bosom 
be  hushed  into  gentleness. 

This  is  the  noble  and  elevating  prospect  which  Christian- 
ity has  set  before  us,  and  it  is  a prospect  which  you  may 
all  look  forward  to.  I do  not  address  myself  to  the  worldly 
— to  those  who  are  immersed  in  the  cares  of  time  and  think 
seldom  of  eternity — to  those  who  are  strangers  to  God, 
and  who,  in  observing  His  ordinances,  pay  Him  the  mere 
homage  of  their  external  profession,  and  are  carried  along 
by  the  stream  of  general  example.  The  people  to  whom  I 
address  myself  are  those  who  really  wish  for  immortality — 
who  labor  under  the  most  earnest  and  deep-felt  anxieties 
for  their  salvation — who  are  diffident  of  themselves,  and 
conceive,  in  the  despondency  of  their  spirits,  that  the  com- 
forts of  the  gospel  were  not  intended  for  them.  What  I 
say  is  intended  to  cure  the  desponding  Christian  of  his  hope- 
lessness, and  to  assure  him  by  the  high  authority  which  he 
reveres,  that  he  is  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  He 
is  now  under  that  godly  sorrow  which  worketh  repentance 
unto  salvation.  He  has  commenced  that  career  of  senti- 
ment which  will  lead  him  to  heaven  ; and  though  grief  and 
uncertainty  encompass  his  outset,  he  must  at  last  emerge 


104 


THE  SENTIMENTS  SUITABLE  TO 


into  the  delightful  repose  and  confidence  of  the  Christian 
faith.  It  is  very  true  that  the  promises  of  Christianity  are 
not  addressed  to  all ; but  they  are  addressed  tb  all  who 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden.  It  is  very  true  that  there  are 
many  exceptions  to  the  grace  of  God — but  these  exceptions 
are  only  to  be  found  among  the  careless,  the  unreflecting, 
the  hardened,  those  who  live  in  security,  and  hurry  along 
the  stream  of  infatuation  till  death  comes  like  a whirlwind 
upon  their  blind  and  unawakened  consciences.  It  is  very 
true  that  ail  are  not  saved — but  all  who  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden  are  saved  if  they  come  to  Christ,  for  He  has 
promised  that  He  will  give  them  rest. 

On  this  day,  then,  devoted  to  the  celebration  of  a Sav- 
iour’s love,  let  the  desponding  Christian  find  comfort  to  his 
soul.  Why  abandon  himself  to  despair  against  the  express 
assurances  of  Scripture  ? Will  he  deny  the  truth  of  Jesus? 
will  he  deny  His  omnipotence  as  a Saviour?  will  he  deny 
the  mildness  of  His  character,  or  give  way  to  the  oppressfon 
of  doubt  and  of  anxiety,  when  to  all  who  are  in  his  state 
He  addresses,  without  exception,  the  language  of  invitation 
and  encouragement — Come  to  me,  all  ye  who  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden  ? Why  then  does  he  conceive  himself  to  be  an 
exception?  Our  Saviour  makes  no  exception,  and  what 
right  has  he  to  apprehend  one  ? It  is  true  you  are  weak, 
you  are  guilty,  you  are  disobedient — the  errors  of  frail  and 
corrupted  humanity  hang  about  you  perpetually ; in  every 
step  you  offend,  and  in  every  thought  of  your  heart  you  fall 
short  of  the  purity  and  elevation  of  a perfect  character. 
This  is  your  disease,  and  it  is  the  disease  of  the  whole 
human  race.  Every  son  of  Adam  is  tainted  with  it ; not 
a brother  of  the  species  who  has  escaped  the  malignity  of 
sin — all  have  gone  astray,  and  not  a man  among  us  can 
present  to  the  Father  of  Spirits  the  incense  of  a pure  and 
unspotted  offering.  You  feel  as  you  ought,  when  you  feel 
the  burden  of  your  infirmities,  and  tremble  at  the  inveteracy 
of  that  disease  which  has  made  such  cruel  inroads  upon 
the  happiness  and  virtue  of  the  species.  But  while 
your  eyes  are  open  to  the  extent  and  virulence  of  the 


A COMMUNION  SABBATH. 


105 


disease,  why  should  they  be  shut  against  the  power  and 
efficaciousness  of  the  remedy?  Why  refuse  the  call  of  the 
physician,  or  turn  a deaf  ear  to  those  gracious  and  consol 
atory  words  in  which  the  atonement  of  the  Gospel  is  re- 
vealed to  us? — Peace  on  earth,  and  good-will  to  the  children 
of  men.  O the  glory  and  riches  of  the  love  of  Christ ; it 
passeth  all  understanding.  Why  should  you  refuse  the 
comfort  that  is  held  out  by  Him,  who  says  in  the  words 
of  the  evangelical  prophet  Isaiah — “ The  spirit  of  the  Lord 
God  is  upon  me ; because  the  Lord  hath  anointed  me  to 
preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek ; He  hath  sent  me  to 
bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  cap- 
tives, and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound ; 
to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  and  the  day 
of  vengeance  of  our  God ; to  comfort  all  that  mourn ; to 
appoint  unto  them  that  mourn  in  Zion,  to  give  unto  them 
beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness ; that  they  might  be 
called  trees  of  righteousness,  the  planting  of  the  Lord,  that 
He  might  be  glorified.” 

You  approach  this  mighty  Being  in  the  ordinance  of  His 
appointment,  and  you  do  well.  Approach  Him  in  faith. 
Shake  off  the  melancholy  which  oppresses  you.  Ap- 
proach Him  in  prayer,  and  you  will  be  heard.  He  will 
lend  an  attentive  ear  to  the  prayer  of  a broken  heart ; He 
will  set  your  feet  in  a sure  place  ; He  will  establish  you  in 
comfort.  The  sheltering  arm  of  His  love  and  His  omni- 
potence will  defend  you.  You  will  walk  in  gladness  through 
the  world,  and  enter  with  triumph  into  the  glories  of  His 
kingdom. 


SERMON  II. 


PRAYER. 

On  this  the  morning  of  Thy  day  we  would  approach  Thee  in  the 
peculiar  capacity  of  Christians.  We  offer  ourselves  to  the  Lord  of 
the  universe  as  the  disciples  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  We  acknowledge 
Him  to  be  the  authentic  messenger  of  Thy  will  and  of  Thy  promises. 
We  profess  Him  to  be  the  only  true  and  living  way  to  the  glories  of 
Thy  paradise ; that  we  can  be  redeemed  only  by  His  blood ; that  we 
can  be  instructed  only  by  His  righteousness  ; that  we  can  be  animated 
and  sustained  only  by  His  consolations.  We  profess  ourselves  to  be 
the  followers  in  the  faith  of  those  illustrious  men  who  preached  and 
who  propagated  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  who  held  fast  their  profession 
amid  the  terrors  of  martyrdom,  and  maintained  the  sacred  intrepidity 
of  conscience  amid  the  cruelties  of  a persecuting  world.  How  refresh- 
ing, O Lord,  to  the  minds  of  those  Christians  must  have  been  the  ordi- 
nances of  Thy  religion ! How  sweet  to  their  souls  the  Sabbath  morn, 
which  recalled  the  triumphs  of  their  Saviour’s  resurrection  ! and  what 
a day  of  holy  gratitude  and  piety  when  they  approached  the  table  of 
the  Lord,  and  their  hearts  burned  within  them  at  a name  and  a re- 
membrance that  were  ever  dear  to  them.  They  now  sleep  from  the 
troubles  of  the  world.  They  have  entered  into  their  quiet  rest.  They 
sit  at  the  right  hand  of  Thy  throne,  and  shine  in  all  the  splendors  of 
righteousness  amid  the  glorified  spirits  which  surround  Thee.  We 
humbly  desire  to  imitate  their  example,  and  to  tread  in  that  path  which 
led  the  Christians  of  old  to  glory  and  immortality.  In  this  distant  age 
of  the  Church  we  desire  to  do  as  our  fathers  have  done  before  us — 
we  desire  to  keep  alive  in  the  world  the  memory  of  a crucified 
Saviour — we  desire  to  transmit  to  our  children  the  purity  of  His 
ordinances — we  desire  that  the  dying  request  which  He  left  behind 
Him  may  receive  its  accomplishment  in  all  ages — Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  me  ; do  this  till  I come  again. 

May  it  be  the  delight  of  our  minds,  O Lord,  to  share  in  this  affect- 
ing solemnity ; to  approach  that  feast  of  love  and  of  gratitude  which 
lies  before  us ; to  retire  for  a moment  from  this  world  of  care  to  the 
feelings  and  the  exercises  of  piety ; and  to  rise  to  the  anticipation  of 
those  joys  which  Thou  hast  prepared  for  us  in  Thy  eternal  kingdom. 


ZION  REMEMBERED  BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON.  107 


We  live  in  happier  times.  The  dark  ages  of  violence  and  of  persecu- 
tion are  now  over.  We  can  celebrate  our  sacraments  in  peace.  The 
noble  intrepidity  of  the  Christians  of  other  times  has  secured  for  then- 
descendants  the  quiet  establishment  of  their  religion.  We  thank  Thee 
that  we  can  now  repair  to  the  solemn  assembly — that  there  is  none 
to  make  us  afraid — that  liberty  of  conscience  is  established — that  the 
delightful  music  of  the  church-bell  is  heard  in  every  valley — while  a 
benignant  toleration  extends  its  influence  over  a peaceful  and  a happy 
land. 

We  thank  Thee,  O God  of  mercy,  that  Thou  hast  not  visited  us 
with  the  trials  of  more  troubled  times.  But  may  we  never  forget  that 
there  is  still  much  to  prove  and  to  exercise  the  purity  of  our  principles. 
May  we  never  forget  that  Christianity  is  a warfare  ; that  in  every 
generation  of  the  Church  believers  have  their  difficulties  to  contend 
with ; that  the  life  of  a Christian  is  a life  of  perpetual  vigilance  ; that 
while  we  stay  in  the  world  we  have  to  struggle  with  its  vices,  with 
its  allurements,  with  the  passions  and  infirmities  of  our  nature,  and 
with  that  contempt  which  fashion  and  frivolity  and  false  philosophy 
have  often  annexed  to  all  that  is  serious.  May  we  remember,  Lord, 
that  the  Christians  of  old  had  something  more  than  the  mere  Sabbath 
or  sacrament  to  exercise  their  obedience — that  their  offering  to  heaven 
was  the  incense  of  a perpetual  sacrifice  ; that  every  hour  of  the  day 
the  terrors  of  persecution  hung  over  them ; and  that  they  were  called 
upon  to  maintain  the  constancy  of  their  professions  amid  the  dangers 
aud  difficulties  which  never  ceased  to  surround  them.  May  we  in 
like  manner  remember  that  the  duty  of  a Christian  demands  some- 
thing more  than  the  mere  sacrifice  of  a few  hours  at  the  place  of  de- 
votion, or  of  a few  sighs  and  prayers  at  the  table  of  the  sacrament. 
May  we  remember  that,  like  the  Christians  of  old,  we  have  to  main- 
tain a perpetual  warfare  ; that  we  are  never  to  throw  aside  the  armor 
of  faith  and  of  fortitude  and  of  principle;  that  we  are  to  carry  Thy 
religion  about  with  us  as  the  guide  and  the  ornament  of  our  lives,  as 
our  staff  to  support  us  amid  the  distresses  of  the  world,  and  as  our 
shield  against  its  difficulties  and  temptations.  We  pray  for  Thy  bless- 
ing on  this  awful  and  important  solemnity.  May  it  be  the  instrument 
of  conviction  to  the  guilty  ; may  it  be  the  instrument  of  repentance  to 
the  alarmed ; may  it  be  the  instrument  of  faith  to  the  penitent ; may 
it  be  the  instrument  to  the*believer  of  reformation  and  perseverance  in 
righteousness.  On  this  day,  devoted  to  the  celebration  of  a Saviour’s 
love,  may  we  think  of  our  unworthiness ; how  helpless  and  unable  of 
ourselves  ; how  daring  and  multiplied  our  offenses  ; how  forgetful  of 
our  duty ; how  insensible  to  the  awful  considerations  of  death  and 
judgment  and  eternity. 

On  this  day  may  the  hearts  of  the  penitent  be  filled  with  the  conso- 
lation of  Thy  promises.  May  they  acknowledge  the  faith  of  the  gospel 
as  their  only  remedy  and  their  only  rejoicing.  May  they  see  in  their 


108 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


remembrance  of  a dying  Saviour  that  there  is  a hope  for  the  guilty 
who  reform,  and  for  the  most  abandoned  of  characters,  if  he  turn  from 
the  evil  of  his  ways.  May  they  shake  off  the  melancholy  which  op- 
presses them,  aud  rise  to  the  sublime  confidence  of  the  gospel ; and 
may  they  no  longer  resist  the  animating  hope  of  forgiveness  when 
they  think  of  the  Son  of  God  divesting  Himself  of  the  glories  of  His 
nature,  descending  from  heaven,  assuming  the  infirmities  of  a man, 
submitting  to  a life  of  cruelty  and  mortification  and  to  a death  the 
most  painful  and  ignominious  ; and  all  to  impress  upon  the  hearts  of 
the  penitent  the  joyful  lesson  of  pardon  and  immortality. 

On  this  day  may  believers  gain  additional  strength  to  their  princi- 
ples, and  renewed  vigor  to  their  purposes  of  obedience.  May  this 
act  of  devotion  send  them  back  to  the  world  more  prepared  for  the 
exercise  of  its  duties.  May  it  be  something  more  than  a mere  mo 
mentary  exercise,  the  effect  of  which  expires  with  the  performance. 
May  it  be  seen  many  days  hence,  and  may  it  yield  in  abundance  the 
fruits  of  purity  and  of  righteousness. 

As  we  sit  together  at  the  same  table,  may  we  live  together  as  chil- 
dren of  the  same  God,  as  brethren  of  the  same  nature,  as  disciples  of 
the  same  Saviour.  May  the  hearts  of  all  be  improved,  and  consoled, 
and  exalted.  May  we  think  of  that  eternal  feast  which  Thou  hast 
prepared  for  us.  May  every  thought  be  withdrawn  from  the  vanities 
of  a perishable  world.  May  we  have  our  eye  heavenward,  where 
brighter  days  await  us — where  we  shall  be  purified  from  the  imper- 
fections of  time,  and  be  able  to  present  to  the  Father  of  Spirits  the 
incense  of  a holier  and  more  unspotted  offering. 


PSALM  CXXXVII.  1-6. 

“ By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down  ; yea,  we  wept,  when  we  remembered  Zion. 
We  hanged  our  harps  upon  the  willows  in  the  midst  thereof.  For  there  they  that 
carried  us  away  captive  required  of  us  a song ; and  they  that  wasted  us  required  of  us 
mirth,  saying,  Sing  us  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion.  How  shall  we  sing  the  Lord’s  song  in 
a strange  land  7 If  I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning. 
If  I do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth ; if  I prefer 
not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.” 

Had  the  Bible  come  down  to  us  dhaccompanied  by  any 
pretensions  to  being  inspired,  it  would  have  stood  high  as 
a literary  composition ; but  the  very  circumstance  of  its 
being  the  code  of  our  religious  faith  is  against  the  reputa- 
tion of  its  eloquence.  The  Christian  has  a higher  object  in 
contemplation ; and  the  infidel  has  too  great  a disposition 
to  undervalue  the  whole  subject  to  carry  away  a fair  im- 
pression even  of  its  subordinate  merits.  We  are  familiar- 


BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 


109 


ized  to  the  Bible  from  our  infancy.  It  is  the  book  of  our 
schools,  and  the  reading  of  it  formed  the  task  and  discipline 
of  our  boyhood.  In  some  cases  this  may  lead  us  to  asso- 
ciate with  the  Bible  a sentiment  of  reverence,  and  in  other 
cases  a sentiment  of  disgust.  At  all  events,  it  must  have 
the  effect  of  modifying  in  some  degree  our  impression  of 
it.  The  feelings  and  recollections  of  our  early  years  never 
abandon  us.  There  is  an  obstinacy  about  them  which  never 
fails  to  exert  a most  decided  influence  upon  the  taste ; and 
in  this  way  our  judgment  of  the  Bible,  viewed  merely  as  a 
specimen  of  ancient  literature,  is  different  from  what  it 
would  have  been  had  we  been  released  from  those  peculiar 
associations  which  must  exist  in  every  Christian  countor, 
or  had  our  attention  to  its  merits  been  the  free  and  spon- 
taneous exercise  of  our  maturer  faculties. 

Still,  however,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  any  association 
entirely  to  obliterate  the  strong  and  genuine  characters  of 
excellence ; nor  can  I conceive  it  possible  that  any  mind 
should  be  so  beset  with  prejudice  as  to  refuse  the  testimony 
of  its  feelings  to  the  beauty  and  tenderness  of  the  passage 
which  I have  now  laid  before  you.  It  possesses  many  of 
the  constituents  of  the  finest  poetry — the  scenery  by  the 
river  side — the  action  of  hanging  their  harps  upon  the  wil- 
lows in  the  midst  thereof — the  sentiment,  such  as  was  near- 
est to  every  bosom,  suggested  by  the  memory  of  a distant 
home,  and  the  place  where  their  fathers  worshiped — the 
affecting  expression  of  that  sentiment,  “ If  I forget  thee,  O 
Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning” — “ If  I 
prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.”  I must  say, 
that  in  such  images  and  expressions  as  these,  there  is  a na- 
ture, a pathos,  and  a simplicity  which  must  carry  it  over 
all  opinion  and  all  prejudice. 

There  may  be  an  excess  in  spiritualizing.  Christians 
there  are  who  delight  in  the  exercise  of  mystic  interpreta- 
tion— who  find  a hidden  meaning  in  every  passage  of  the 
Bible — who  construe  the  most  distant  resemblance  into  a 
type  and  a prophecy,  and  whose  whole  exposition  of  Scrip- 
ture is  made  up  of  fanciful  ingenuities.  This  extravagance 


110 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


has  been  carried  too  far.  It  is  to  be  lamented  by  the  friends 
of  Christianity.  It  supplies  a topic  of  ridicule  to  the  ene- 
mies of  our  faith,  and  it  rests  the  defense  or  illustration  of 
Christian  doctrine  on  ground  which,  to  say  the  least  of  it, 
is  suspicious  or  vulnerable.  The  Bible  stands  in  no  need 
of  any  such  commentator.  Take  it  according  to  its  natural 
and  obvious  interpretation.  Enough  for  it  the  direct  sim- 
plicity of  its  language  and  the  strength  of  its  unquestion- 
able evidences.  You  would  lose  nothing  though  you  were 
to  surrender  all  the  expositions  of  our  mystical  and  figur- 
ative interpreters.  In  these  expositions  you  often  meet 
with  much  ingenuity,  and  what  is  still  better,  with  much 
affecting  and  evangelical  piety.  But  you  may  give  them 
all  up,  and  yet  retain  everything  that  is  worth  contending 
for.  The  great  body  of  undeniable  doctrine  remains  un- 
impaired. You  have  all  that  inspiration  has  thought  fit  to 
reveal  to  us  in  clear  and  authoritative  language.  We  now 
live  under  the  full  revelation  of  the  gospel ; and  why  run 
in  the  pursuit  of  shadows,  when  the  truth  stands  before  us 
in  the  plainest  and  most  substantial  characters  ? 

The  psalm  before  us  has  been  made  to  undergo  two  in- 
terpretations. Take  it  in  its  obvious  sense  and  direct  mean- 
ing, and  it  is  the  song  of  Jews  laboring  under  the  horrors 
of  the  Babylonish  captivity,  aspiring  after  their  distant 
home,  and  swearing  to  be  true  and  faithful  to  the  remem- 
brance of  it.  Take  it  in  the  remote  and  secondary  mean- 
ing which  has  been  ascribed  to  it,  and  it  may  be  considered 
as  the  song  of  Christians  laboring  under  the  miseries  of 
their  earthly  pilgrimage,  aspiring  after  that  heaven  from 
which  sin  and  corruption  had  banished  them,  and  swearing 
never  to  lose  sight  of  it  as  their  home  and  their  expecta- 
tion. Now  I do  not  mean  to  dispute  this  last  interpreta- 
tion, but  I think  it  would  be  as  well  that  it  were  not  too 
much  insisted  upon.  It  gives  no  aid  to  the  doctrine  of  im- 
mortality : that  is  sufficiently  established  without  the  assist- 
ance of  any  refined  or  mystical  interpretation.  But  it  may 
do  mischief.  It  may  give  an  appearance  of  weakness  to 
Christianity.  It  may  lead  the  unthinking  to  suppose  that 


BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 


Ill 


the  whole  body  of  Christian  doctrine  is  composed  of  such 
flimsy  materials  as  the  remote  and  fanciful  speculations  of 
mystical  commentators.  It  may  give  a triumph  to  infidel- 
ity, furnishing  it  with  a fair  subject  for  ridicule,  and  it  may 
take  away  from  the  friends  of  the  gospel  all  that  security 
and  proud  confidence  of  argument  to  which  the  honesty  of 
a good  cause  entitles  its  defenders. 

Let  us  therefore  abandon  the  idea  of  any  spiritual  inter- 
pretation, or  rather  let  us  offer  no  opinion  upon  the  subject. 
The  psalm  still  remains  to  us  as  a specimen  of  most  beau- 
tiful composition — and  what  is  still  better,  it  may  be  made 
as  subservient  as  before  to  all  the  feelings  and  purposes  of 
piety.  If  any  writer  shall  fasten  upon  a distant  home  as 
the  subject  of  his  poetry,  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that 
it  is  my  home  or  my  family  that  is  intended — it  is  enough 
for  me  that  the  sentiments  of  that  poem  are  the  sentiments 
of  nature  and  propriety.  I make  them  my  own,  I transfer 
them  to  the  resembling  situation  which  I myself  occupy  ; I 
catch  the  spirit  of  the  composition,  and  feel  my  heart  bet- 
tered by  all  the  truth  and  tenderness  which  abound  in  it. 
Now  what  is  true  of  a human  composition  is  true  of  the 
sacred  poetry  before  us.  My  home  may  not  have  been  in 
the  writer’s  contemplation,  but  no  matter,  I feel  the  inspi- 
ration of  his  sentiment,  and  I apply  it  to  my  own  circum- 
stances— I enter  into  his  pathos,  because  I feel  myself, 
though  not  in  the  same,  yet  in  a kindred  situation.  This 
wilderness  of  care  I call  my  banishment — my  distant  home 
is  heaven;  and  in  the  contempt  and  discouragements  which 
religion  meets  with  from  the  world,  I see  the  triumph  and 
the  ridicule  of  enemies.  I do  not  seek,  nor  is  it  of  import- 
ance, to  know  if  all  this  were  in  the  mind  of  the  psalmist — 
enough  for  me  if  he  touches  with  sensibility  and  effect 
upon  his  own  congenial  situation — I feel  myself  carried 
along  in  a train  of  simultaneous  emotions,  and  resign  my 
heart  to  the  full  impression  of  his  imagery  and  of  his  senti- 
ments. 

With  these  observations  in  our  mind,  let  us  enter  into  the 
exposition  of  the  passage  now  before  us,  and  endeavor  to 


112 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


apply  the  feelings  and  principles  of  the  psalm  to  the  actual 
condition  of  Christians. 

Ver.  1,  2. — “ By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat 
down;  yea,  we  wept,  when  we  remembered  Zion.  We 
hanged  our  harps  upon  the  willows  in  the  midst  thereof.” 
I am  sensible  that  there  are  many  who  do  not  enter  into 
the  feeling  that  this  world  is  a banishment.  The  world 
forms  all  their  home  and  all  their  enjoyment.  It  is  the  sole 
theater  of  their  ambition  ; and  in  the  happiness  which  they 
hope  to  find  exclusively  there,  they  never  once  think  of 
giving  a look  or  a wish  beyond  it.  I am  sensible  that  with 
almost  every  human  being  it  is  this  world  and  this  world’s 
objects  which  engross  the  great  majority  of  their  time — 
that  its  interest  forms  the  grand  spring  of  human  activity 
— that  it  is  for  this  that  we  see  all  things  active  and  in  mo- 
tion through  the  various  departments  of  business — and  that 
the  great  purpose  of  man  in  all  the  restlessness  and  variety 
of  his  movements  is  to  secure  some  warm  and  well-shel- 
tered tenement  on  this  side  of  death.  This  entire  devotion 
of  the  heart  to  the  anxieties  of  time  is  the  most  obstinate, 
though  the  most  unreasonable  principle  of  our  nature.  In 
vain  shall  we  bring  every  power  of  eloquence  to  bear 
against  it — even  the  voice  of  heavenly  inspiration  has  been 
lifted  in  vain ; and  even  in  spite  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
splendor  and  evidence  of  its  revelations,  how  few  are  to  be 
found  on  the  face  of  the  world  who  live  for  eternity.  But 
I shall  refute,  though  I cannot  conquer  it,  and  have  only 
one  argument  to  offer — the  simple  argument  of  the  grave. 
What,  I would  ask,  does  it  all  tend  to  ? It  all  ends  in 
forgetfulness.  As  sure  as  yonder  sun  maintains  his  unva- 
ried course  in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  these  busy  and 
restless  pursuits  will  terminate  in  nothing.  I may  fail  to 
impress  you,  but  it  is  not  your  impression  which  consti- 
tutes the  truth.  Time  is  the  mighty  and  resistless  element 
upon  which  I make  my  calculation — and  in  all  the  confi- 
dence of  this  mighty  argument,  do  I prophesy  your  fall.  1 
have  only  to  look  forward  to  the  lapse  of  a few  short  years, 
and  I see  every  Christian  who  now  hears  me  in  his  sep 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


113 


ulcher.  This  little  time  will  not  put  an  end  to  the  ambition 
of  the  world,  but  it  will  put  an  end  to  yours.  The  genera- 
tion to  come  will  be  the  imitators  of  your  folly,  and  human 
life  will  still  offer  to  our  notice  the  same  spectacle  of  activ- 
ity that  is  soon  to  be  extinguished,  and  of  joys  that  are  on 
the  eve  of  perishing.  But  to  you  the  world  with  all  its 
pleasures  and  all  its  greatness  will  be  as  if  it  had  never 
been.  It  will  pass  like  a fleeting  image  upon  your  mem- 
ory. Eternity  will  rise  before  you  in  all  its  grandeur  and 
in  all  its  importance ; and  you  will  come  to  acknowledge 
that  it  is  there,  and  there  alone,  where  your  home  and  your 
inheritance  lie. 

And  what  are  we  here  but  exiles  from  this  home?  What 
is  the  state  of  human  life  but  a state  of  banishment  from 
•Heaven,  and  from  the  purity  of  its  enjoyments — banish- 
ment from  that  peace  of  conscience  which  settles  there — 
banishment  from  the  presence  of  God  and  the  full  contem- 
plation of  His  attributes — banishment  from  that  perfection 
of  virtue  which  reigns  in  paradise,  and  from  the  exercise 
of  all  those  delightful  charities  on  which  the  dark  and  angry 
passions  of  this  world  have  made  so  cruel  an  inroad  ? This 
is  not  our  resting-place.  Even  the  men  of  this  world  are 
perpetually  tending  to  repose,  but  never  finding  it — at  one 
time  racked  by  the  pangs  of  disappointment,  at  another 
carried  along  the  rapid  career  of  a successful  ambition — 
but  finding,  even  in  the  full  possession  of  the  object  they 
strive  after,  that  the  joys  of  this  world  are  tasteless  and 
unsatisfying.  The  heavenly-minded  *feel  that  this  is  not 
their  resting-place.  While  they  are  in  the  body  they  labor 
under  the  weight  of  its  infirmities.  Temptation*  assails 
them — fancy  plies  them  with  the  vanity  of  its  allurements, 
and  their  minds  wander  from  the  purity  and  elevation  of 
the  gospel.  Vexation  frets  their  tempers,  and  in  the  vio- 
lence of  irritated  feelings,  they  forget  the  peace  and  charity 
of  Christians.  In  the  unguarded  hour  of  company  they 
indulge  their  vanity  or  censoriousness,  or  love  of  distinc- 
tion. It  is  true  that  a good  Christian  will  struggle  to  main- 
tain his  integrity  amid  the  innumerable  difficulties  which 


114 


BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 


surround  him.  With  the  joys  of  the  Christian  faith  he  will 
combine  the  diligence  of  the  Christian  practice.  The 
motto  of  his  life  will  be — “ Though  faint,  yet  pursuing.”  He 
will  try  to  make  head  against  the  sin  which  most  easily 
besets  him,  nor  will  he  ever  to  the  end  of  his  days  shrink 
in  indolence  or  despair  from  the  toils  of  religious  discipline. 
But  still  the  frailties  of  his  degraded  nature  hang  perpet- 
ually about  him,  and  remind  him  of  his  fall.  He  aspires 
after  perfect  obedience,  and  grieves  at  the  distance  which 
separates  him  from  the  object  of  his  pious  ambition.  He 
feels  himself  an  exile  from  heaven,  and  from  the  purity  of 
its  laws.  He  presses  forward  to  the  prize  of  his  high  call- 
ing, but  grieves  to  find  that  the  passions  and  interests  of 
the  world  should  so  often  break  in  upon  the  elevation  of 
his  purposes.  Like  the  Christians  of  old,  he  is  perplexed, 
though  not  in  despair,  and  he  longs  to  be  delivered  from 
this  perplexity.  He  longs  for  that  time  when  he  shall 
repose  from  the  agitation  of  guilty  fears  and  guilty  pas- 
sions ; when  the  powers  of  corruption  shall  be  destroyed 
in  his  soul ; when  his  spirit,  like  the  spirits  of  other  just 
men,  shall  be  made  perfect ; when  conscience  shall  have 
nothing  to  reproach  him  with,  and  every  faculty  within  him 
shall  move  in  harmony  to  the  great  laws  of  truth  and  order 
and  righteousness. 

The  Christian  who  longs  for  the  reign  of  charity,  and 
tastes  it  to  be  gracious,  will  feel  that  this  is  not  his  resting- 
place.  In  this  world  what  cruel  obstructions  to  that  per- 
fect love  which  forms  the  joy  of  Paradise  ; what  variance, 
what  emulation,  what  rivalship  among  families  exist  in  the 
bosom  of  every  neighborhood ; what  deep  and  revolting 
insinuations  to  another’s  prejudice  or  another’s  ridicule  ; 
what  unchristian  pleasure  in  the  low  and  mischievous  work 
of  calumny  ; what  secret  repinings  at  the  growing  fame 
and  prosperity  of  an  acquaintance ; and  what  triumph  in 
his  disgrace  or  in  his  fall  ! But  let  me  not  overcharge  the 
picture.  We  do  not  say  that  this  is  of  universal  applica- 
tion ; but  there  are  many  examples  of  it,  and  enough  to 
convince  us  that  we  are  yet  very  far  from  those  millennial 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


115 


days  when  charity  shall  reign  in  the  world,  and  form  the 
whole  human  race  into  one  family  of  brothers.  There  is 
no  happiness  more  truly  angelic  than  that  which  consists  in 
the  feeling  and  exercise  of  perfect  cordiality  betwixt  man 
and  his  fellow.  We  are  exiles,  then,  from  the  happiness 
of  our  condition,  while  we  live  in  a world  where  this  cor- 
diality is  far  from  being  perfect — where  it  is  exposed  to 
many  interruptions — where  the  dark  and  angry  passions 
are  perpetually  breaking  in  upon  it — and  where,  setting 
aside  the  malignity  of  the  human  character,  our  very  ignor- 
ance of  one  another,  and  want  of  understanding,  are  enough 
to  impede  the  free  flow  and  harmony  of  friendship.  There 
are  some  to  whose  hearts  a cold  unfriendly  look  forms  the 
crudest  of  all  disappointments ; who  are  formed  for  chari- 
ty, and  feel  the  exercise  of  it  to  be  the  most  pleasurable  ot 
all  enjoyments.  To  such  as  these,  this  world  is  a banish- 
ment. It  is  a banishment  from  that  perfect  love  which 
reigns  in  Paradise,  and  is  the  delight  and  exercise  of  all 
who  live  in  it ; where  every  eye  meets  another  in  the  full 
glance  of  cordiality  and  affection ; where  in  every  being 
we  meet  with  we  recognize  a brother  and  a friend ; and 
where  from  the  throne  of  God  to  the  very  humblest  of  His 
children,  all  shall  rejoice  in  that  charity  which  never  fail- 
eth,  and  which  will  form  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  into  one 
great  and  united  family. 

The  Christian  who  droops  and  is  dejected  under  a sense 
of  his  infirmities  feels  that  this  is  not  his  resting  place. — 
There  are  some  Christians  who  labor  under  the  convictions 
of  religion,  but  feel  little  of  its  comforts  ; whose  minds  are 
a prey  to  the  most  disheartening  anxieties  ; who  know  that 
Christianity  is  a system  of  mercy,  but  feel  as  if  they  were 
not  included  in  it ; who  look  only  to  the  discouraging  pic- 
ture of  their  own  guilt  and  their  own  insufficiency,  and 
whose  eyes  are  seldom  withdrawn  from  this  gloomy  con- 
templation to  the  bright  and  cheering  spectacle  of  a trium- 
phant Redeemer  speaking  peace  to  the  humble  and  the  con- 
trite spirit,  and  giving  the  assurances  of  His  mercy  to  all 
who  trust  in  Him.  While  we  are  still  on  our  pilgrimage, 


116 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


even  the  best  of  Christians  must  sometimes  lay  their  account 
with  these  visitations  of  melancholy.  They  form  part  of 
our  discipline  ; they  remind  us  of  the  imperfections  of  our 
nature,  and  of  our  distance  from  the  full  confidence  and  en- 
joyment of  God ; they  teach  us  to  aspire  after  heaven,  and 
to  long  for  that  eternal  city,  where  we  shall  live  in  the  pres- 
ence of  our  Father — where  with  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect  we  shall  encircle  His  throne — where  the  hidings  of 
His  countenance  shall  be  no  longer  upon  us — and  where 
for  the  weariness  and  despondency  which  now  oppresses 
every  family,  we  shall  have  our  hearts  established  in  the 
joys  of  His  salvation,  and  in  the  accomplishment  of  His 
promises.  But  while  we  are  in  the  body  we  must  feel  the 
weight  of  its  infirmities — our  hearts  are  apt  to  fail  us  in  the 
way — -the  joys  of  the  Christian  faith  may  at  times  abandon 
us — we  feel  the  misgivings  of  anxiety  and  despair — we  weep 
when  we  remember  Zion,  and  contrast  the  peace  and  bles- 
sedness of  its  mansions  with  this  sad  and  weary  wilderness. 
This  is  a grievous  though  not  an  incurable  disease.  It  is 
the  desolation  of  the  mind ; it  is  that  sorrow  of  the  heart 
which  refuses  at  the  time  to  be  comforted.  But  it  cannot 
last ; it  has  its  acme  and  its  termination.  Brighter  days  will 
succeed  to  it  even  in  this  world.  Godly  sorrow  will  not 
utterly  consume  its  victim,  or  render  him  for  ever  unhappy. 
It  will  at  last  land  him  in  many  precious  consequences  ; it 
will  work  repentance  unto  salvation ; it  will  speak  peace  to 
the  spirit  of  the  humble  and  oppressed  penitent ; it  will  trans- 
late him  into  the  joys  of  the  Christian  faith.  He  will  cast  all 
his  care  upon  Him  who  is  the  Redeemer  of  his  soul ; he  will 
repose  all  his  anxieties  in  the  bosom  of  the  Eternal ; his  sin- 
cere but  imperfect  obedience  will  be  the  evidence  of  his  re- 
newed principles.  The  ordinances  of  religion  will  be  his  de- 
light and  his  refreshment ; his  heart  will  be  established  with- 
in him  in  the  full  confidence  of  his  God  and  of  his  Saviour ; he 
will  have  a foretaste  of  heaven ; and  the  dreariness  of  his 
banishment  will  be  alleviated  by  the  bright  anticipation 
before  him. 

Yer.  3,4 — “For  there  they  that  carried  us  away  captive 


BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 


117 


required  of  us  a song  ; and  they  that  wasted  us  required  of 
us  mirth,  saying,  Sing  us  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion.  How 
shall  we  sing  the  Lord’s  song  in  a strange  land  ?”  This 
alludes  to  the  contempt  and  mockery  which  the  children 
of  Israel  had  to  sustain  in  the  country  of  their  banishment. 
The  Babylonians  asked  them  in  derision  for  one  of  the  songs 
of  Zion.  They  loaded  with  ridicule  the  pure  and  venera- 
ble religion,  and  aggravated  the  sufferings  of  the  weary  and 
oppressed  exiles  by  their  mirth  and  their  indecency.  We 
are  sorry  to  say  that  the  resemblance  still  holds  betwixt 
the  Jews  in  a state  of  captivity  and  the  Christians  in  the 
state  of  their  pilgrimage.  We  have  also  to  sustain  the 
mockery  of  the  profane  and  the  unthinking.  Ridicule  and 
disdain  are  often  the  fate  of  sincere  piety  in  this  world. 
Fashion  and  frivolity  and  false  philosophy  have  made  a for- 
midable combination  against  us ; and  the  same  truth,  the 
same  honesty,  the  same  integrity  of  principle,  which  in  any 
other  cause  would  be  esteemed  as  manly  and  respectable, 
is  despised  and  laughed  at  when  attached  to  the  cause  of  the 
gospel  and  its  sublime  interests.  Some  may  think  that  the 
picture  is  overcharged — that  religion  does  not  incur  so  much 
contempt  from  the  world  as  we  are  insisting  upon — and  that 
the  man  who  lives  in  the  outward  profession  of  Christianity, 
and  in  the  practice  of  its  different  virtues,  stands  a higher 
chance  for  reputation  in  his  neighborhood  than  the  man  who 
tramples  upon  the  institutions  of’ the  gospel,  and  lives  in  open 
defiance  to  its  morality.  This  is  all  very  true  ; and  yet  it 
is  also  true  that  a sincere  Christian  has  often  much  to  un- 
dergo from  the  levity  and  ridicule  of  the  world.  The  rid- 
icule is  not  annexed  to  the  social  virtues  of  the  gospel — it 
is  annexed  to  that  piety  which  in  the  New  Testament  is 
made  the  principle  of  them.  The  morality  of  the  gospel 
(and  we  say  it  in  its  praise)  has  of  itself  a strong  claim  upon 
the  homage  and  admiration  of  the  human  heart — in  its  hu- 
manity the  most  amiable  ; in  its  integrity  the  most  elevated  ; 
in  its  fortitude  the  most  manly ; in  its  deportment  the  most 
mild  and  gentle  and  condescending.  Let  a man  clothe  him- 
self in  the  different  virtues  of  the  New  Testament,  and  he 


118 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


holds  himself  out  to  us  in  an  attitude  the  most  graceful  and 
the  most  engaging.  But  be  not  deceived.  I say  it  is  pos- 
sible to  admire  these  virtues,  and  yet  not  to  admire  Chris- 
tianity ; it  is  possible  to  confine  your  imagination  to  these 
genuine  effects  of  the  Christian  principle,  and  to  turn  away 
in  disgust  and  repugnance  from  the  principle  itself.  Even 
though  separated  altogether  from  religion  as  their  motiv«e 
and  their  principle,  these  virtues  would  still  remain  the  ob- 
jects of  admiration  in  every  humanized  society.  It  is  not 
of  contempt  for  the  social  virtues  which  spring  from  relig- 
ion that  I complain.  They  must  ever  be  acknowledged  as 
the  finest,  the  most  graceful  accomplishment  of  the  human 
character.  It  is  of  contempt  for  religion  itself ; it  is  of  con- 
tempt for  the  religious  principle  viewed  in  its  abstract  and 
unmingled  simplicity.  There  never  can  be  contempt  for 
the  social  virtues,  whatever  negligence  may  prevail  in  the 
exercise  of  them.  But  along  with  the  admiration  of  these 
virtues,  there  can  be,  and  to  this  hour  there. actually  is,  a 
very  great  and  a very  general  contempt  for  that  principle 
which  forms  the  best  and  the  only  security  for  their  exist- 
ence. The  ridicule  is  not  annexed  to  the  social  virtues,  but 
it  is  annexed  to  piety — it  is  annexed  to  reverence  for  the 
authority  of  God — it  is  annexed  to  faith  in  Christ — and  to 
all  those  sincere  and  evangelical  principles  which  if  they 
flourished  among  men  would  beautify  the  face  of  society, 
and  form  the  whole  human  race  into  one  happy  and  virtu- 
ous family. 

But  why,  it  may  be  said,  should  anything  be  advanced 
that  can  lead  to  the  idea  that  piety  and  the  social  virtues 
are  independent  of  one  another  ? God  forbid  that  £uch  a 
fair  and  natural  alliance  should  ever  be  dissolved.  But  it. 
is  not  Christianity  which  destroys  the  connection.  It  is  the 
infidel  who  laughs  at  piety,  or  the  lukewarm  believer  who 
dreads  to  be  laughed  at  for  the  extravagance  to  which  he 
carries  it.  The  Christian  is  not  for  giving  up  the  social  vir- 
tues. But  the  open  enemy  and  the  cold  friend  of  the  gos- 
pel are  for  giving  up  piety  ; and  while  they  garnish  all  tha? 
is  right  and  amiable  in  humanity  with  the  unsobuteiithv 


BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 


119 


praises  of  their  eloquence,  they  pour  contempt  on  the  very 
principle  which  forms  our  best  security  for  the  existence  of 
virtue  in  the  world.  Let  me  say  nothing  that  can  degrade 
the  social  virtues  in  the  estimation  of  men ; but  separate 
them  from  religion,  and  what  are  they  ? At  the  very  best 
they  are  the  virtues  of  this  life ; their  office  is  to  scatter  a 
few  fleeting  joys  over  a short  and  uncertain  pilgrimage,  and 
to  deck  a temporary  scene  with  blessings  which  are  to  per- 
ish and  be  forgotten.  Make  them  a part  of  religion  and  you 
exalt  them  beyond  all  that  poet  or  moralist  can  do  for  them. 
You  give  them  God  for  their  object,  and  for  their  end  the 
grandeur  of  eternity.  No,  it  is  not  the  Christian  who  is  the 
enemy  of  social  virtue  : it  is  he  who  sighs  in  all  the  ecstasy 
of  sentiment  over  it  at  the  very  time  that  he  digs  away  its 
foundation,  and  wreaks  upon  that  piety  which  is  its  princi- 
ple the  cruelty  of  his  scorn. 

Now  what  I insist  upon  is,  that  religion  is  the  actual  vic- 
tim of  this  scorn — and  that  as  the  Jews  in  their  state  of 
captivity  had  to  endure  the  mockery  of  their  foes,  so  the 
Christians  in  the  state  of  their  pilgrimage  have  to  endure  a 
similar  trial.  I think  that  in  the  round  of  my  own  familiar 
experience  I have  met  with  the  most  undeniable  evidences 
of  a pretty  strong  and  I am  afraid  a pretty  general  contempt 
for  religion.  Why  is  family  worship  given  up  during  the 
residence  of  a visitor?  Is  it  not  because  you  dread  the  im- 
putation of  being  puritanical  ? — and  if  you  really  dread  the 
imputation,  is  this  not  a proof  that  it  is  actually  laid  upon 
all  who  can  hold  up  their  face  to  the  exercises  of  piety? 
Why  does  a company  fall  so  readily  into  a conversation 
about  trade  or  politics  or  agriculture,  but  on  the  moment 
that  there  is  the  slightest  approach  'to  religion,  there  is  an 
embarrassment  visible  in  every  countenance  ? It  is  a sub- 
ject which  all  shrink  from  and  which  all  are  ashamed  of — 
there  is  a meanness  annexed  to  it ; and  though  not  an  indi- 
vidual there  who  would  not  lend  his  fullest  testimony  to 
what  was  respectable  in.  justice  or  graceful  in  charity,  yet 
all  that  is  exalted  in  faith,  and  piety,  and  the  elevation  of  a 
Christian,  will  be  suffered  to  pass  without  praise  and  with- 


120 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


out  acknowledgment.  Let  a man  be  humane,  and  you  love 
him — let  him  be  honest,  and  you  confide  in  him ; but  let 
him  be  religious,  and  I do  not  say  that  you,  but  that  there 
are  many  in  the  world  who  would  pity  or  despise  him.  It 
is  very  true  that  they  will  allow  him  a certain  degree  of 
respect  for  his  religion ; they  will  grant  him  a certain  de- 
gree of  indulgence  to  this  peculiarity — but  he  must  take 
care  not  to  carry  it  too  far.  He  must  not  carry  it  to  such 
a length  as  would  be  offensive  or  outrageous  to  the  feelings 
of  the  world.  They  will  allow  him  to  attend  church  once 
a day — they  will  allow  him  to  sit  down  at  the  sacrament — 
they  will  allow  him  all  that  is  sanctioned  by  fashionable  ex- 
ample ; but  the  moment  that  he  begins  to  distinguish  him- 
self— the  moment  that  he  steps  beyond  the  limit  prescribed 
to  him  by  the  omnipotence  of  custom — the  moment  that  he 
becomes  more  punctual,  more  zealous,  more  declared  in 
his  attachment  to  religion  and  its  ordinances  than  his  neigh- 
bors in  the  same  rank  of  society — I say  from  that  moment 
he  must  prepare  himself  for  the  contempt  of  the  world,  and 
feel  that  he  has  to  stand  on  the  trial  of  his  firmness.  Let 
him  do  as  others,  and  his  religion  will  be  tolerated  as  decent 
and  inoffensive;  but  let  him  do  better  and  more  than  his 
neighbors  around  him,  and  it  is  all  rant,  all  enthusiasm,  all 
the  weakness  of  a driveling  and  unmanly  superstition ; and 
the  man  who  has  the  intrepidity  to  announce  himself  as  a 
Christian,  and  be  true  to  his  Saviour  and  God,  is  branded 
as  a Methodist — as  a man  who  has  transgressed  all  the 
rules  of  moderation  and  good  society — as  a man  who  has  in 
some  measure  disgraced  himself  by  adhering  to  an  obstinate 
peculiarity,  for  which  among  a great  proportion  of  his  fel- 
lows he  will  meet  with  no  sympathy  and  no  admiration. 

Ver.  5,  6. — “If  I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem,  let  my  right 
hand  forget  her  cunning.  If  I do  not  remember  thee,  let 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth ; if  I prefer  not 
Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.”  These  verses  express  the 
determination  of  the  Jews  in  their  state  of  captivity  ; and 
let  it  be  your  determination  in  the  state  of  your  pilgrimage. 
Like  them  you  may  have  to  brave  the  contempt  of  neigh- 


BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 


121 


bors ; but  think  of  the  grandeur  of  eternity,  and  tell  me, 
with  such  an  object  before  you,  if  this  world’s  contempt  is 
not  worth  the  braving?  Live  by  the  powers  of  a world 
to  come.  Think  of  the  littleness  of  time ; think  of  the  great- 
ness of  eternity  ; think  of  the  cloud  of  witnesses  that  at  this 
moment  encompass  you ; think  of  the  spirits  of  just  men  who 
have  gone  before  you ; think  of  the  angels  that  are  now 
looking  upon  you  from  the  high  eminences  of  heaven ; think 
of  that  kind,  that  gracious  Redeemer  who  died  for  your 
offenses,  but  now  sees  you  from  His  seat  of  glory  at  the 
Father’s  right  hand  ; think  of  the  omniscience  of  God  ; and 
shall  all  the  contempt  and  discouragement  of  the  world 
make  you  falter  from  that  path  of  duty  and  perseverance 
which  will  conduct  you  to  the  Jerusalem  above  ? You  sit 
at  the  Lord’s  table,  and  you  do  well.  May  it.be  a refresh- 
ment to  you  by  the  way.  If  your  spirits  are  likely  to  fail, 
may  this  feast  of  love  strengthen  and  restore  them.  May 
it  send  you  back  to  the  world  more  prepared  to  resist  its 
temptations — to  withstand  its  contempt  and  opposition — to 
discharge  its  duties — and  to  improve  it  as  your  scene  of 
exercise  and  preparation.  My  prayer  to  heaven  is — that 
your  faith  may  be  invigorated,  your  hearts  purified,  your 
gloomy  apprehensions  dispelled,  your  prospects  brightened, 
and  your  joy  made  full  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
the  consolation  of  His  promises. 

December  8,  1810. 


ADDRESS. 

You  have  now  finished  the  greatest  solemnitv  of  our 
blessed  faith,  and  may  it  not  be  an  unprofitable  solemnity. 
I trust  that  the  sentiments  you  feel  at  the  table  will  never 
abandon  you — that  you  will  carry  them  with  you  to  the 
world,  and  that  your  religion,  instead  of  being  the  mere 
obedience  of  a day  or  of  a festival,  will  rise  to  the  Father 
of  Spirits  like  the  incense  of  a perpetual  offering.  You  are 
weak,  but  God  can  perfect  His  strength  in  your  weakness  ; 

VOL.  VI. F 


122 


ZION  REMEMBERED 


you  are  corrupt,  but  Christianity  provides  for  this  corrup- 
tion ; you  are  guilty,  but  the  grace  of  God  is  free  to  all  who 
return  from  the  evil  of  their  ways,  and  offer  at  the  throne 
of  heaven  their  faith  and  their  humility  and  their  repent- 
ance. Some  are  apt  to  give  themselves  up  to  despair  be- 
cause they  feel  the  weight  of  their  own  infirmities.  But 
this  is  no  discovery  of  their  own.  Christianity  supposes 
them  to  be  beset  with  infirmity — it  proceeds  upon  this  as 
the  basis  of  that  dispensation  which  the  Saviour  introduced 
into  the  world.  It  is  true  that  they  are  weak  and  guilty ; 
and  it  is  to  save  them  from  the  despair  of  this  weakness 
and  guilt  that  Christianity  was  instituted.  In  the  grace  of 
the  gospel  there  is  an  ample  remedy  held  out  to  all  who 
feel  themselves  in  these  circumstances.  There  is  the  effi- 
cacy of  Christ’s  atonement — there  is  the  dying  love  of  a 
powerful  and  affectionate  Redeemer — there  is  the  voice  of 
His  mercy — there  is  the  tenderness  of  His  compassion — 
there  is  the  graciousness  of  His  invitation,  Come  to  me,  all 
ye  who  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I will  give  you 
rest. 

It  is  to  commemorate  the  love  of  this  kind  and  powerful 
Redeemer  that  you  have  this  day  joined  in  the  sacrament, 
and  you  have  done  well  by  commemorating  His  love.  You 
have  made  the  profession  to  heaven  that  you  love  Him;  and 
I refer  you  to  the  Scriptures  for  the  best  evidence  and  tes- 
timony that  you  can  give  of  that  love — ■“  If  ye  love  me, 
keep  my  commandments.”  How  shall  I know,  then,  that 
you  have  partaken  worthily?  God  knows,  for  He  sees 
your  hearts  ; but  I have  not  that  advantage.  I cannot  pen- 
etrate through  the  disguises  of  hypocrisy — I cannot  unmask 
the  pretensions  of  insincerity  and  deceit — I cannot  take 
my  secret  stand,  and  with  the  glance  of  an  all-seeing  eye 
detect  the  artifice,  the  dissimulation,  the  coldness,  the  hard- 
ened insensibility,  that  lurks  in  the  bosom  of  an  unworthy 
communicant.  I have  nothing  before  me  by  which  I can 
decide  the  question — I can  only  decide  upon  the  outward 
appearances  which  come  under  my  observation ; and  it  is 
impossible  that  in  the  short  time  of  a few  hours  such  ap- 


BY  THE  RIVERS  OF  BABYLON. 


123 


pearances  can  have  occurred  as  would  enable  me  to  resolve 
the  question.  All  that  passes  before  man  is  a grave,  a de- 
cent, and  an  orderly  ceremonial.  I see  seriousness  upon 
almost  every  countenance.  I see  an  apparent  reverence 
for  this  affecting  solemnity  of  our  holy  religion.  I see  the 
marks  of  attention  in  every  eye ; and  were  I entitled  to 
pronounce  upon  so  short  an  experience,  I wTould  say  that  I 
see  nothing  but  symptoms  the  most  promising  and  the  most 
satisfactory.  But  an  important  question  remains.  Is  all 
this  to  last  ? Will  the  good  feelings,  will  the  pious  pur- 
poses, will  the  holy  voice  of  penitence  and  amendment  be 
persisted  in  and  called  into  sustained  and  habitual  exhibi- 
tion ? God  alone  can  answer  this  at  present. 

For  He  alone  knows  the  character  of  every  communi- 
cant— He  knows  the  strength  or  the  weakness  of  your  pur- 
poses— He  knows  the  sincerity  or  the  falsehood  of  your 
pretensions — He  knows  whether  you  have  made  the  en- 
gagement in  that  spirit  of  presumption  which  will  be  dis- 
appointed, or  in  that  spirit  of  humility  which  His  good 
Spirit  will  cause  to  prosper  and4o  triumph.  For  me  to 
say  anything  with  certainty  upon  this  subject  I must  have 
a little  more  experience.  I can  only  judge  the  soundness 
of  your  principles  by  their  effects — I can  only  judge  the 
sincerity  of  your  repentance  by  your  reformation — I can 
only  judge  of  the  evangelical  power  of  your  faith  by  its 
yielding  in  abundance  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness. 
When  I look  abroad  at  the  right  season  of  the  year  over 
the  face  of  the  country,  I see  it  glowing  in  all  the  pride  and 
luxuriance  of  vegetation — I see  the  flower  in  its  loveliness 
— I see  the  stalk  which  supports  it — I see  the  leaves  and 
the  spreading  branches ; but  the  root  to  me  is  invisible,  nor 
would  I have  known  that  the  root  was  there  had  it  not 
been  for  the  vegetation  which  rises  from  it.  When  I look 
abroad  upon  the  human  beings  of  my  neighborhood,  I see 
.nothing  but  outward  appearances — I hear  their  words — I 
see  their  behavior — I mark  their  conduct — I listen  to  their 
conversation — I observe  their  actions.  The  root  and  the 
principle  of  all  this  is  to  me  invisible.  God  alone  can  have 


12* 


ZION  REMEMBERED. 


a direct  view  of  it,  but  I can  infer  the  healthy  root  from 
the  flourishing  vegetation. 

Be  a Christian  then  in  your  behavior,  and  I will  infer 
that  you  are  a Christian  in  your  principles.  Let  me  see  the 
flourishing  vegetation,  and  I infer  a healthy  root,  and  look 
forward  to  an  abundant  harvest ; let  me  see  the  fruits  of 
righteousness  in  your  conduct,  and  I infer  that  there  is  a 
root  of  sound  and  evangelical  principle  within  you,  and  1 
look  forward  to  an  abundant  recompense  of  reward.  May 
the  solemnity  of  this  day  be  the  means  in  the  hand  of  Prov- 
idence of  adding  to  the  vigor  of  this  root — may  it  be  watered 
by  the  dew  of  heaven — may  it  become  more  steadfast  and 
immovable  in  your  souls — may  it  be  refreshed  by  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Lord,  that  it  may  be  fitted  for  bearing  such  an 
abundant  crop  of  virtue  and  righteousness  as  will  redound 
to  His  glory  and  to  the  honor  of  His  religion  in  the  world. 
If  in  the  course  of  my  acquaintance  with  you  in  after  life  I 
see  you  obedient  to  the  gospel,  attentive  to  its  ordinances, 
holding  up  your  face  for  its  honor  and  its  interests,  zealous 
in  promoting  it,  mindful  of  its  duties,  observant  of  its  peace, 
its  love,  its  candor,  its  fair  dealing,  its  honesty,  I shall  then 
infer,  in  as  far  as  it  is  competent  for  fallen  man  to  do,  that 
the  grace  of  God  has  operated  within  you,  and  settled  in 
your  hearts  a reign  of  faith,  and  charity,  and  righteousness 


SERMON  I. 

(_During  the  years  18  12,  1813,  1814,  1815,  1816,  Dr.  Chalmers  kept  an 
accurate  record  of  his  preaching,  from  which  the  following  and  some  sub- 
sequent notices  are  extracted  : — 

John  iv.  10. — Preached  at  Dairsie,  14th  June,  1812.  At  Kilmany  Sacra- 
ment, 21st  June,  1812.  At  Edinburgh,  Lady  Glenorchy’s,  19th  July,  1812 
At  Anstruther,  23d  August,  1812.  At  Denbog,  26th  July,  1813.] 

JOHN  IV.  10. 

“Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that 
saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink ; thou  wouldest  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have 
given  thee  living  water.” 

It  must  occur  to  every  reader  of  the  verse  before  us,  that 
something  more  is  meant  by  living  water  than  the  natural 
element.  There  is  a sense  which  lies  under  it — a thing 
signified,  of  which  water,  the  subject  of  conversation  be- 
twixt our  Saviour  and  the  woman,  was  only  the  sign.  And 
it  might  appear  wonderful  that  this  did  not  occur  to  the 
woman  herself — that  she  did  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  any 
hidden  import  or  signification  in  the  term  as  used  by  our 
Lord  ; but,  conceiving  that  it  was  still  the  true  or  literal 
water  that  He  was  speaking  of,  she  asked  how  He  could 
have  of  this  water,  as  the  well  was  deep,  and  He  had  nothing 
to  draw  with.  The  truth  is,  that  though  the  term  living 
is  calculated  to  suggest  some  high  and  spiritual  acceptation 
to  us,  it  was  not  calculated  to  suggest  the  same  thing  to  her. 
The  original  phrase  for  living  water  was  applied  by  the 
people  of  those  times  to  water  in  motion,  or  running  water. 
It  had  two  senses,  and  she,  as  was  most  natural,  took  it  up 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  most  commonly  understood. 
But  could  living  water,  in  this  sense,  be  drawn  up  from  the 
bottom  of  a well  ? Yes,  if  the  spring  was  of  such  force  as 
to  give  velocity  and  sensible  motion  to  the  water,  it  was 
still  called  living  water.  It  is  probable  that  the  water  of 


126 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


the  well  at  which  Christ  and  the  woman  of  Samaria  were 
then  seated  was  living  water.  Certain  it  is  that  in  the 
book  of  Genesis,  xxvi.  19,  where  it  is  mentioned  that  Isaac’s 
servants  digged  in  the  valley,  and  found  there  a well  of 
springing  water,  it  is  called  living  water  in  the  original 
language,  and  it  is  so  marked  on  the  margin  of  our  Bibles. 
In  the  same  manner  in  the  book  of  Leviticus,  xiv.  5,  where 
the  priest  is  ordered  to  kill  a bird  over  running  water,  the 
words  employed  in  the  original  are  the  same  in  signification 
with  those  which  our  Saviour  made  use  of  when  He  talked 
of  living  water  in  the  text  before  us.  This  explains  the 
circumstance  of  the  woman’s  still  talking  of  drawing  living 
water,  and  drawing  it  out  of  a well.  She  was  misled  by 
the  ambiguity  of  the  term;  and  this  ambiguity  threw  a 
deeper  disguise  over  the  sublime  and  spiritual  sense  of  our 
Saviour  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  than  it  does  to  a reader 
of  our  common  translation. 

It  were  well  if  it  were  in  the  power  of  a mere  critical 
explanation  to  throw  aside  the  disguise,  and  to  secure  a 
ready  access  into  the  human  heart  for  the  spirit  and  doc- 
trine of  our  Saviour.  But  I am  afraid  that  the  misappre- 
hension of  scriptural  truth  lies  somewhat  deeper  than  in  the 
mere  misapprehension  of  language — and  that  examples 
could  be  named  of  profound  and  accomplished  gramma- 
rians, who  have  given  the  strength  of  their  days  to  the 
elucidation  of  the  Bible,  and  yet,  both  in  heart  and  in  con- 
ception, were  utter  strangers  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
The  ignorance  charged  upon  the  woman  of  Samaria  is  not 
peculiar  to  her.  It  exists  among  the  thousands  of  every 
country  where  Christianity  is  established,  and  where  the 
title  of  Christian  is  prefixed  to  the  name  of  every  individual. 
There  are  multitudes  that  know  not  the  gift  of  God,  and 
that  know  not  Him  who  proclaims  and  offers  it.  They 
know  not  what  the  gift  is,  and  they  know  not  how  or  where 
to  apply  for  it.  The  country  teems  with  Bibles  and  with 
churches,  and  yet  they  maintain  a determined  ignorance 
in  the  midst  of  all  their ‘opportunities — their  days  on  earth 
unenlightened  by  the  guidance  of  that  heavenly  instruction 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


127 


which  is  to  be  found  in  the  Bible — and,  when  they  come 
to  resign  their  temporal  life,  utter  strangers  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  He  has  sent,  whom 
to  know  is  life  everlasting. 

I count  it,  my  brethren,  one  of  the  most  striking  exhibi- 
tions which  theology  can  furnish,  that  a man  may  give  the 
strength  of  his  days  to  the  labor  of  its  most  difficult  and 
profound  investigations,  and  be,  after  all,  a stranger  to  what 
is  called  in  the  Bible  the  spiritual  discernment  of  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus — that  after  he  has  done  all  which  earnest 
attention  and  solid  understanding,  and  the  talent  of  pouring 
upon  his  subject  the  light  of  a brilliant  and  convincing  illus- 
tration, and  every  other  faculty  of  his  natural  constitution 
can  accomplish,  he  may  still  be  laboring  under  all  the  blind- 
ness of  him  into  whose  mind  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel 
of  Christ  has  never  yet  entered — that  the  terms  of  “ God,” 
and  “judgment,”  and  “salvation,”  and  “grace,”  may  be  rec- 
ognized by  him  as  well-known  sounds,  and  may  even  be 
employed  by  him  in  such  a way  as  to  make  out  a sound  and 
pertinent  and  irresistible  argument,  and  yet  the  import  of 
these  terms  may  not  be  so  perceived  by  him  as  to  be  at  all 
felt  or  appreciated  in  such  a way  as  a distinct  sense  of  their 
meaning  would  infallibly  lead  him  to  do.  Oh,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  observe  how,  when  genius  has  exhausted  all  its 
resources,  and  that  mind  which  woul<P  have  carried  its 
possessor  to  the  sublimest  attainments  of  human  science 
has  lavished  all  its  exertions  on  the  Bible,  the  man  may 
still  be  in  a state  of  positive  deadness  as  to  the  living  mean- 
ing and  the  practical  influence  of  any  of  its  truths;  or,  in 
other  words,  those  truths  are  actually  not  seen  by  him. 
They  do  not  come  upon  him  with  the  impression  of  their 
reality.  They  may  form  the  elements  of  many  an  ingenious 
speculation,  and  enter  with  appropriateness  into  many  a 
process  of  reasoning,  but  by  him  they  are  not  so  believed 
and  not  so  looked  to  as  to  give  its  prevailing  bent  to  the 
heart  and  the  life  and  the  affections.  He  may  even  be 
sensible  of  all  this,  and  wish  it  to  be  remedied,  and  bring 
his  every  natural  power  to  the  object ; and  yet  he  may  find 


128 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


that  all,  all  is  unavailing.  There  is  a barrier  between  him 
and  the  saving  knowledge  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  over 
which  all  the  energies  of  the  best  endowed  intellect  can  not 
carry  him.  Nay,  he  may  perceive  the  most  illiterate  of 
his  neighbors  to  have  got  beyond  him,  and  to  look  on  the 
field  of  revelation  with  such  a clear  and  affecting  perception 
of  all  its  objects  as  he  can  not  attain  to.  Such  experiences 
as  these  are  valuable,  my  brethren.  They  go  to  confirm 
the  doctrine  of  a spiritual  illumination.  They  harmonize 
with  that  utterance  of  our  Saviour  when  He  says,  “Father, 
I thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise 
and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  to  babes.”  They  put 
us  all,  as  to  the  gospel  of  Christ,  on  the  same  footing  of  de- 
pendence— they  reduce  us  to  the  attitude  of  little  children. 
Nor  do  I know  a finer  exhibition  than  when  a man  of 
gigantic  faculties  is  brought  down  to  this,  and  knocks  for 
light  at  a door  which  he  can  not  open — and  feeling  that  he 
has  done  nothing  till  he  obtain  such  a view  of  spiritual  and 
unseen  matters  that  believing  on  them  from  his  heart  the 
fruit  may  be  holiness,  he,  after  discovering  the  utter  incom- 
petency of  all  native  and  unaided  exertion  to  obtain  for  him 
such  a view,  is  at  length  reduced  to  the  earnestness  and  to 
the  humility  of  prayer.  • 

Let  me  attempt,  in  the  following  discourse,  to  expose 
this  in  its  various  particulars.  Some  may,  by  the  blessing 
of  heaven,  attend  to  us  with  the  hearing  ear;  and  the  hear- 
ing ear  may,  by  the  same  blessing,  be  accompanied  with  the 
understanding  heart.  God  may  achieve  the  greatest  things 
by  the  very  humblest  of  His  instruments ; and  I count  the 
greatest  and  most  interesting  of  all  events  to  be — what  is 
unnoticed  by  the  world,  and  what  the  pen  of  history  seldom 
records  but  in  characters  of  contempt — that  grand  transition 
by  which  a human  soul  passes  out  of  darkness  into  the 
marvelous  light  of  the  gospel.  Could  this  light  be  only 
communicated,  you  would  no  longer  be  at  a loss  to  under- 
stand the  gift  that  is  held  out,  and  the  quarter  where  you 
were  to  apply  for  it.  You  would  ask  of  Him  who  has 
both  the  will  and  the  ability  to  give,  and  He  wTould  do  to 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


39» 

you  what  He  promises  to  do  to  the  woman  of  Samaaa — 
He  would  give  you  living  water. 

First,  then,  many  know  not  in  the  general  that  the  bless- 
ings and  the  privileges  of  the  gospel  are  a gift.  Without 
descending  to  a more  particular  explanation  at  present,  this 
living  water  includes  in  it  all  the  blessings  and  all  the  priv- 
ileges of  the  gospel.  The  ignorance  which  I now  desire 
to  expose  lies  in  conceiving  these  blessings  and  privileges 
to  be  not  a gift  but  a claim — not  a free  and  gratuitous  ex- 
ercise of  kindness,  but  the  payment  of  an  account — not 
what  you  receive  as  a present,  but  what  you  work  for  and 
obtain  in  the  shape  of  well-earned  wages.  Now  this  delu- 
sion will  have  its  own  peculiar  effect  upon  two  classes  of 
professing  Christians.  There  is  one  class  who  will  look  at 
their  own  performances,  and  think  they  have  done  enough. 
This  will  be  their  confidence,  and  the  rejoicing  of  their  hope, 
that  they  have  made  out  their  claim.  They  will  not  ask  of 
Jesus  Christ — for  why  ask  of  another  to  do  for  them  what 
they  conceive  they  have  done  for  themselves  ? why  request 
as  a present  what  they  think  they  can  demand  as  their  due? 
or  why  have  recourse  to  the  interposition  of  another  for 
securing  them  that  which  they  hope  to  obtain  upon  the 
strength  of  their  own  actual  obedience  ? Observe  the  ef- 
fect of  this  confidence.  It  is  unnecessary  to  demonstiate 
that  this  obedience  on  which  they  found  their  security  is  a 
most  polluted  and  most  unfinished  offering,  and  will  not 
stand  examination  when  tried  by  the  purity  and  the  requisi- 
tions of  the  divine  law.  There  are  only  two  ways  in  which 
we  can  make  good  a claim  to  the  reward  of  the  law : We 
must  either  bring  up  the  obedience  to  the  standard  of  the 
law,  or  we  must  bring  down  the  standard  of  the  law  to  the 
actual  state  of  the  obedience.  Let  us  try  the  first.  Let  us 
sum  up  all  the  capabilities  of  our  nature ; let  every  power 
and  every  energy  within  be  pressed  into  the  service — and 
to  give  all  fairness  to  the  experiment,  let  the  purest  and  the 
noblest  individual  of  our  race  be  invited  to  the  enterprise  of 
bringing  up  his  obedience  to  the  high  requisitions  of  heaven. 
If  the  experiment  has  never  been  tried,  what  is  this  but  to 


130 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


say  that  the  general  feeling  of  human  impotency  and  human 
helplessness  has  condemned  every  individual  amongst  us  to 
the  inactivity  of  despair  ? If  the  experiment  has  been  tried, 
I beg  to  know  the  result  of  it.  Can  any  man  tell  me  that 
he  has  seen  the  individual  who  has  run  the  animating  course 
of  virtue,  and  reached  its  termination  with  all  the  triumphs 
of  success  upon  his  forehead  ? When  I speak  of  virtue,  I 
ask  you  to  feel  the  mighty  import  of  the  term : it  is  setting 
the  law  of  God  always  before  you — it  is  cherishing  the 
love  of  God  as  your  supreme  and  reigning  affection — and 
it  is  making  every  unfair  object  of  selfishness  give  way  to 
the  love  of  your  neighbor,  which  flows  from  the  love  of  God 
as  its  likeness  and  its  accompaniment.  Have  you  seen 
any  such  ? I am  not  asking  about  the  worse  and  the  bet- 
ter and  the  best.  You  will  meet  with  better  and  worse  in 
the  robber’s  den  or  in  the  dungeons  of  offended  justice.  I 
do  not  deny  that  there  are  gradations  of  character  in  the 
world,  but  this  does  not  say  but  that  the  world  is  a vast  re- 
ceptacle of  sinners,  and  that  the  best  of  these  sinners  is  a 
sinner  still. 

Conceive  therefore  that  a man  should  persist  in  the  delu- 
sion I am  attempting,  to  expose ; conceive  him  to  look  on 
heaven  as  a claim  and  not  as  a gift;  conceive  him  to  put 
forth  all  the  energies  of  his  nature,  and  all  the  faculties  of  a 
most  happily  endowed  constitution  to  the  enterprise  of  mak- 
ing out  this  claim.  In  other  words,  let  him  embark  himself 
on  a career  of  firm,  resolute,  and  strenuous  obedience,  and 
then  will  you  see  the  spectacle  of  a man  trying  to  win  a 
place  in  Paradise  by  his  works.  It  is  quite  evident  that  this 
man  has  brought  down  upon  himself  the  very  principle  by 
which  he  will  be  tried  in  the  day  of  reckoning.  He  surely 
has  no  right  to  expect  any  shelter  on  that  day  from  the  Me- 
diatorship  of  Christ,  if  on  this  the  day  of  his  probation  he 
has  made  a deliberate  rejection  of  all  the  benefits  of  that 
Mediatorship.  If  you  put  the  peculiarities  of  the  gospel 
away  from  you,  and  take  up  your  chance  for  immortality 
on  another  ground,  you  surely  cannot  complain  if  that  be 
the  ground  on  which  the  examination  of  you  shall  be  taken 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


131 


up  and  carried  forward  at  the  time  that  you  stand  before 
the  judgment-seat.  It  is  the  ground  you  have  chosen  here, 
and  as  it  is  your  own  ground  you  will  be  tried  upon  it  there ; 
and  if  there  be  any  among  you,  my  brethren,  hardy  enough 
to  think  that  you  can  win  the  prize  of  immortality  by  the 
might  and  the  exercise  of  such  attributes  of  strength  and 
character  as  belong  to  you — then  remember  that  the  inquiry 
on  that  day  will  be  not  whether  there  is  evidence  that  while 
you  lived  in  the  world  you  so  lived  in  it  as  to  prove  that  you 
accepted  of  heaven  as  an  offered  gift,  but  whether  you  so 
lived  in  it  as  to  have  gained  and  substantiated  a claim  to 
heaven.  In  the  former  case  you  looked  to  the  law,  and  you 
compared  its  demands  with  your  capabilities,  and  the  result 
of  the  comparison  was  such  an  humbling  view  of  the  guilt 
and  insufficiency  that  covered  you,  as  led  you  to  feel  the 
need  of  a something  else  on  which  your  dependence  could  be 
laid ; and  feeling  thus  you  clung  to  the  offered  grace  of  the 
Saviour,  and  you  kept  by  it.  In  the  latter  case,  you  also 
may  look  to  the  law,  and  look  at  the  same  time  to  your 
own  capabilities  of  obedience,  and  whether  you  see  the  de- 
mands of  this  law  in  all  their  rigor  and  in  all  their  loftiness, 
I know  not ; but  by  the  act  of  holding  out  against  the  gift, 
and  attempting  to  substantiate  the  claim,  you  have  certainly 
somehow  or  other  come  to  the  practical  conclusion  that  you 
can  master  all  its  exactions — that  you  are  a match  for  it 
and  for  all  its  commandments,  and  you  utterly  refuse  the 
sentiment  of  the  Apostle  when  he  tells  us  of  what  the  law 
cannot  do  through  the  weakness  of  the  flesh,  even  that  it 
cannot  exalt  the  character  to  a pure  and  undeviating  loyal- 
ty. I am  not,  my  brethren,  speaking  of  a case  that  is  im- 
aginary. The  delusion  to  which  I am  adverting  has  a very 
general  existence  in  the  world,  and  carries  in  its  very  es- 
sence the  great  principle  of  legalism.  This  is  a principle 
natural  to  the  human  heart ; it  is  a principle  which  is  ever 
coming  into  play  throughout  the  intercourse  we  hold  with 
each  other,  and  is  upheld  and  fostered  by  almost  all  the 
transactions  of  civil  society.  There  is  not  a more  familiar 
feeling  than  that  of  the  claim  which  one  man  has  or  thinks 


132 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


he  has  upon  another.  I have  lent  my  neighbor  a sum  of 
money,  and  I have  a claim  upon  him  for  repayment.  I 
have  done  him  an  obliging  piece  of  service,  and  I have  a 
claim  upon  him  for  gratitude.  I have  acquitted  myself  of 
all  that  is  asked  or  expected  from  me  as  a member  of  so- 
ciety, and  I have  a claim  upon  it  for  justice  to  my  reputa- 
tion and  my  character.  The  feeling  of  such  claims — the 
consciousness  of  all  that  worth  and  merit  which  entitle  you 
to  them — the  sense  of  provocation  when  they  are  withheld 
from  you — the  clamorous  demand  for  equity,  and  the  pas- 
sionate outcry  of  injured  sensibilities  when  that  equity  is 
denied — all  these  may  be  observed  to  give  a daily  and  a 
perpetual  exercise  to  the  heart  of  every  man  as  he  moves 
through  the  relations  whether  of  domestic  or  of  general 
society.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a feeling  so 
familiarly  and  so  frequently  called  forth  in  the  transactions 
between  a man  and  his  fellows  should  also  insinuate  itself 
into  the  heart  and  be  called  forth  in  the  case  of  transactions 
that  go  on  between  a man  and  his  God.  When  I look  on 
men  with  a reference  to  the  question  of  what  kind  of  con- 
duct I should  maintain  towards  them,  the  most  natural  and 
general  feeling  about  this  question  is,  that  I shall  give  what 
is  due  to  them,  and  that  I shall  look  for  what  is  due  from 
them.  When  I look  on  God  with  a reference  to  the  same 
subject,  nothing  more  natural  and  I am  sure  nothing  more 
general  than  that  obstinate  principle  of  legality  in  virtue  of 
which  I transfer  the  very  same  sentiment  about  Him  that  I 
have  about  my  fellows  in  society : I shall  give  what  is  due 
to  Him,  and  I shall  look  for  what  is  due  from  Him.  With 
this  sentiment  many  start  upon  a course  of  reformation  to- 
wards God,  and  I have  no  objection  that  they  should  do  so, 
would  they  only  at  the  same  time  make  a right  computation 
of  the  amount  of  what  is  due  to  the  Heavenly  Lawgiver ; 
would  they  only  look  at  the  breadth  of  His  law ; would 
they  only  estimate  the  degree  of  his  rightful  ascendency 
over  all  the  creatures  He  has  formed  ; would  they  only, 
while  they  assimilate  Him  to  man  in  the  circumstance  that 
a something  is  due  to  Him,  also  distinguish  Him  from  man 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


133 


by  those  very  essential  circumstances  in  which  He  differs 
from  them,  that  He  made  us  and  He  upholds  us,  and  He 
has  a claim  to  the  subordination  of  every  movement  and 
of  every  faculty  which  belongs  to  us  ; then  I should  not 
despair  after  letting  them  understand  what  the  amount  of 
that  something  due  to  God  was — I should  not  despair  of 
convincing  them  how  fearfully  hazardous  it  is  to  remain 
upon  the  ground  on  which  they  are  standing.  Now  they 
misjudge  the  matter  altogether  if  they  think  that,  because 
equal  to  the  performance  of  those  reciprocal  duties  which 
bind  and  consolidate  the  system  of  human  society,  they  are 
therefore  equal  to  the  performance  of  those  duties  which 
bind  together  the  fellowship  of  peace  between  God  and  the 
creatures  who  have  sprung  from  Him.  I should  not  despair 
of  carrying  their  acquiescence  in  the  doctrine  that,  however 
well  and  however  reputable  they  may  find  themselves  in 
reference  to  their  fellow-sinners  around  them,  they  in  every 
one  point  of  obedience  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God,  and 
are  accumulating  every  day  upon  their  heads  the  guilt  of 
His  violated  requisitions — that  when  assembled  around  the 
tribunal  which  is  to  put  upon  them  the  awards  of  eternity, 
they  will  not  be  tried  by  such  principles  as  are  gathered 
out  of  the  constitution  of  human  society — they  will  be  tried 
by  those  unalterable  principles  of  equity  which  fixedly  and 
essentially  belong  to  the  cause  of  God  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  God’s  creatures  on  the  other  ; and  that,  therefore,  unless 
they  are  driven  out  of  the  legality  of  their  feelings  and  their 
contemplations  upon  this  subject,  they  are  in  despite  of  the 
offered  salvation  seeking  to  establish  such  a righteousness  of 
their  own  as  never,  never  can  avail  them  ; they  are  pitch- 
ing at  the  impracticable  aim  of  keeping  upsides  with  a law 
which,  with  all  the  strenuousness  and  all  the  frequency  of 
their  performances,  they  shall  never  satisfy  ; they  are  brav- 
ing the  penalties  of  a code  which  in  its  most  leading  partic- 
ulars they  are  every  day  breaking — and  therefore  let  them 
cease  to  wonder  any  longer  that  though  they  talk  of  virtue 
and  multiply  their  performances,  and  are  both  aiming  at 
and  doing  a number  of  things  which  wear  a semblance  and 


134 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


a character  of- religion,  the  preacher  of  the  gospel  should 
still  look  at  them,  and,  impressed  with  the  danger  and  inse- 
curity of  their  condition,  should  not  be  satisfied. 

I have  not  yet  said  whether  I thought  or  not,  that  those 
people  had  adequate  conceptions  of  the  law  in  all  the  ex- 
tent and  purity  which  belongs  to  it.  I have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  now  that  it  is  an  inadequate  conception  of  this 
which  practically  lies  at  the  bottom  of  their  delusion.  Did 
they  perceive  the  law  in  the  whole  strictness  of  the  obliga- 
tion it  lays  upon  them — did  they  think  aright  of  the  truth 
and  majesty  of  Him  who  imposed  it — did  they  contemplate 
as  they  ought  the  unalterable  dignity  of  His  government, 
and  how  for  all  its  stability  and  all  its  respect  it  depended 
on  the  unfailing  obedience  of  its  subjects,  or  on  the  due  ex- 
ecution of  its  defied  and  violated  sanctions  upon  the  disobo- 
dient — did  they  carry  in  their  minds  a very  small  fraction 
indeed  of  that  high  impression  of  God’s  holiness  and  justice 
which  actuates  the  every  feeling  which  works  and  circu- 
lates among  the  hosts  of  paradise — then  humbled  by  a sense 
of  their  distance  and  their  shortness,  and  of  the  mighty  gulf 
that  lay  between  the  high  requisitions  of  God  and  the  pal- 
try attainments  of  the  very  best  of  them,  would  every  one 
of  them  be  convinced  of  sin,  and  be  convinced  of  their  need 
of  a Saviour  along  with.it. 

By  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin,  says  Paul.  Without 
the  commandment,  or  without  the  right  sense  of  the  com- 
mandment, I revived ; but  when  the  commandment  came, 
a right  sense  had  visited  my  heart ; when  I got  to  know 
that  the  law  was  spiritual,  I was  led  to  perceive  how  holy 
and  how  just  and  how  good  it  was — when  the  command- 
ment came  to  me  in  this  light,  sin  revived,  and  I died. 

I have  already  observed  that  there  are  only  two  ways  in 
which  we  can  make  out  a claim  to  the  rewards  of  the  law. 
The  first  way  is  by  bringing  up  the  obedience  to  the  stand- 
ard of  the  law.  This  we  have  already  expatiated  upon. 
The  second  way  is  by  bringing  down  the  law  to  the  stand- 
ard of  the  obedience.  This,  my  brethren,  we  conceive  to 
be  really  and  practically  the  way  in  which  the  legalists  of 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


135 


this  world  seek  to  find  something  like  a settlement  of  peace 
with  their  consciences.  As  I said  just  now,  they  do  not 
look  at  the  law  in  all  the  spirituality  and  greatness  of  its 
requisitions ; they  soften  the  rigor  of  its  exactions — they 
take  up  vague  and  indefinite  ideas  of  the  indulgence  of  God, 
in  order  to  evade  the  close  pursuit  of  his  purity  and  his  jus- 
tice— they  form  a standard  for  themselves,  and  it  is  a stand- 
ard degraded  by  the  whole  distance  of  an  infinity  under  the 
standard  of  that  law  which  was  proclaimed  by  God  Him- 
self for  the  homage  and  obedience  of  the  world  that  He 
had  called  into  existence.  It  is  not  the  first  but  the  second 
that  is  the  real  and  practical  way  in  which  the  rejectors  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ  contrive  to  find  peace  to  their  con- 
sciences, and  at  the  same  time  to  retain  the  system  of  heav- 
en being  a claim  they  are  able  to  make  out,  rather  than  a 
gift  for  which  they  are  indebted  to  a free  and  unconditional 
act  of  liberality  on  the  part  of  its  dispenser ; or  in  other 
words,  instead  of  attempting  to  bring  up  the  obedience  to 
the  standard  of  the  law  of  heaven — an  attempt  which  I be- 
lieve that  out  of  Christ  and  away  from  the  influence  of  His 
doctrine  is  never  made,  or  at  least  never  persevered  in — all 
the  men  who  look  upon  heaven  as  a claim,  and  are  at  the 
same  time  satisfied  with  themselves,  bring  down  the  stand- 
ard of  the  law  to  the  actual  state  of  their  obedience. 

Now  by  so  doing  you  bring  down  the  standard  of  Heaven’s 
law  to  a sinful  obedience ; you  pull  down  the  everlasting 
principles  which  give  support  and*stability  to  the  throne  of 
the  Almighty’s  justice  ; you  make  the  tribunal  of  God  speak 
a language  which  would  degrade  any  court  of  law  or  ad- 
ministration in  the  world.  As  we  can  get  none  to  act  up 
to  the  purity  of  our  requisition,  let  us  bestow  our  reward 
on  the  best  we  can  find.  Our  dignity  and  our  truth  have 
been  most  disgracefully  trampled  upon — let  us  take  the 
affront,  and  soften  it  all  over  by  an  act  of  compromise 
and  connivance — let  us  smile  on  the  malefactor  who  has 
made  a mockery  of  our  government.  It  is  true  we  hate 
guilt,  and  we  have  uttered  against  it  our  solemn  denuncia- 
tions, but  these  denunciations  have  all  been  treated  with 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


1§6 

contempt,  and  we  find  it  convenient  to  recall  them.  We 
would  pass  an  act  of  forgiveness,  but  this  will  not  satisfy 
the  criminals  at  our  bar.  They  do  not  supplicate  a gift, 
they  challenge  a reward  ; and  we,  by  accommodating  to  the 
high  tone  of  their  pretensions,  must  bring  down  our  law  to 
their  obedience,  and  say  that  we  are  satisfied.  That  guilt 
which  we  cannot  look  upon  without  abhorrence  we  are 
called  upon  to  welcome  with  the  language  of  approbation 
and  flattery,  and  the  high  truth  and  harmony  of  Heaven 
must  be  all  given  up  to  the  pride  and  ignorance  of  those 
who  rank  among  the  humblest  of  Heaven’s  offspring. 
Enough  of  this,  my  brethren ; it  will  positively  not  bear  a 
hearing.  Take  the  gift  upon  the  footing  on  which  it  is 
offered  to  you.  It  is  not  a claim  ; and  if  you  misconceive 
the  free  grace  of  the  gospel,  you  either  acquiesce  in  a low 
standard  of  obedience,  or  your  life  becomes  one  restless 
and  unceasing  struggle  in  pursuit  of  an  object  you  will 
never  reach : “ Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we 
have  done  ; but  according  to  His  mercy  hath  he  saved  us.” 
View  your  salvation  in  this  light,  and  it  comes  amply  within 
the  reach  of  all,  and  at  the  taking  of  all  who  will  believe 
in  the  reality  of  the  offer.  View  it  in  any  other,  and  you 
throw  it  at  an  unattainable  distance  from  the  strongest  and 
soundest  and  healthiest  of  the  species.  He  never  will  be 
able  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  the  first  covenant  by  the 
works  of  his  own  righteousness.  The  terrors  of  this  vio- 
lated covenant  are  upoi#him,  and  by  turning  from  the  un- 
speakable gift  in  this  the  accepted  time  he  aggravates 
these  terrors  by  the  weight  of  another  sentence  and  another 
threatening — “ How  shall  he  escape  if  he  neglect  so  great 
a salvation?” 

I call  upon  you  here,  my  brethren  to  remark  how  differ- 
ent in  amount  of  duteous  and  reverential  morality  towards 
God  is  the  feeling  of  those  who  look  forward  to  heaven  on 
the  footing  of  the  gospel,  from  the  feeling  of  those  who  look 
forward  to  it  on  the  footing  of  a presumptuous  legalism. 
The  former  look  to  the  actual  state  of  their  obedience,  and 
the  impression  it  makes  upon  them  is,  that  this  obedience 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


137 


is  not  good  enough  for  God — it  has  not  rendered  enough 
of  homage  to  His  law — it  has  not  come  up  to  their  concep- 
tions of  that  purity  and  of  that  loveliness  and  of  that  devo- 
tion and  of  that  good  will  to  all  around  them  which  form 
the  attributes  and  the  accomplishment  of  virtue.  It  is  not 
adequate  to  their  sentiment  of  what  is  due  to  our  Maker, 
or  of  what  is  equal  to  a full  measure  of  righteousness,  or 
of  what  man  ought  to  be  in  his  heart  and  in  his  habits  and 
throughout  the  whole  currency  of  his  life  and  conversation. 
To  link  our  prospects  of  immortality  with  such  an  obedience 
as  this,  it  would  be  necessary  that  we  should  not  feel  so 
high  a sentiment  as  we  actually  entertain  of  what  is  due  to 
God.  It  would  be  necessary  that  we  should  have  a grosser 
and  a scantier  conception  of  the  measure  of  righteousness. 
It  would  be  necessary  for  us  to  think  that  it  is  quite  enough 
for  man  to  be  just  as  he  is,  and  that  we  need  neither  to  fear 
nor  to  regret  though  his  heart  and  his  habits  have  not 
reached  a nobler  and  a steadier  elevation.  Now,  what  is 
this  but  to  say,  my  brethren,  that  while  the  advocates  for 
heaven,  as  a claim,  arrogate  to  themselves  the  whole  credit 
and  distinction  of  being  the  men  of  morality  and  good 
works,  and  charge  the  advocates  of  heaven,  as  a gift,  with 
a negligent  style  of  sentiment  on  the  subject  of  duties  and 
of  practical  righteousness — it  is,  in  fact,  a stricter  and  a 
purer  and  a loftier  estimate  of  virtue  in  all  its  greatness, 
and  of  obedience  in  all  its  rigor,  which  lies  at  the  bottom 
of  the  humble  acquiescence  of  the  latter  in  the  peculiarities 
of  the  gospel.  It  is  just  because  they  think  so  highly  of 
God  and  of  His  right  to  the  lowly  subordination  of  all  His 
creatures,  that  they  despair  of  ever  reaching  His  rewards 
on  the  footing  of  having  followed  all  the  behests,  or  of 
having  acted  up  to  all  the  requirements  of  loyalty.  The 
humility  of  the  Christian  faith  and  a high  tone  of  duteous 
feeling  towards  God,  so  far  from  being  what  I know  a very 
large  class  of  cold  and  moderate  Christians  conceive  them 
to  be — so  far  from  being  on  terms  of  contradiction  with 
each  other,  do,  in  fact,  communicate — the  first  to  the  second, 
and  the  second  back  again  to  the  first — a mutual  fervency 


138 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


and  intensity.  Give  me  to  see  the  law  in  all  the  breadth 
of  its  requisitions,  and  in  all  the  solemnity  of  its  high  and 
unalterable  sanctions,  and  there  is  nothing  more  calculated 
than  such  a sight  to  stir  up  within  me  the  pervading  con- 
viction of  sin.  When  the  commandment  came  to  Paul  sin 
revived.  Give  me  to  be  penetrated  with  this  conviction 
— and  nothing  more  calculated  to  shake  me  out  of  all  my 
presumptuous  dependence  on  heaven  as  a claim — nothing 
more  calculated  to  distance  me  from  a pretension  so  lofty 
— nothing  more  calculated  to  make  me  pass  upon  myself, 
at  the  tribunal  of  conscience,  a sentence  of  condemnation, 
and  lead  me  to  look  upon  every  hope  that  rested  on  the 
foundation  of  merit  as  blasted  and  undone.  When  the 
commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  I died.  Give  me  to 
feel  that  out  of  Christ  I am  in  a state  of  death,  that  the 
wrath  of  God  is  ever  abiding  on  me,  and  that  there  is 
nothing  to  shield  my  guilty  head  from  the  arrows  of  His 
righteous  indignation — and  nothing,  my  brethren,  more 
fitted  to  reduce  me  to  the  exclamations  of  despair,  or  to  the 
anxious  inquiries  after  a place  of  refuge,  or  to  the  earnest 
attempt  of  casting  about  for  one  who  might  hide  me  in 
some  pavilion  of  safety  till  these  billows  shall  overpass. 
44  O wretched  man  that  I am  ! who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death?”  Give  me  a man  thus  devoting 
himself  to  the  employment  of  seeking,  and  if  there  be  any 
truth  in  the  saying,  that  they  who  seek  shall  find,  there  is 
nothing  more  calculated  than  this  to  guide  his  footsteps  to 
Him  who  is  a refuge  from  the  tempest  and  a hiding-place 
from  the  storm.  44  O wretched  man,  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death  ? I thank  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.” 

Now  what  is  it,  my  brethen,  that  has  carried  us  forward 
to  this  conclusion  ? What  is  it  that  has  thus  stripped  us  of 
all  self-dependence,  and  brought  us  in  holy  and  grateful 
acknowledgement  to  the  -Saviour?  What  is  it  that  has 
thus  led  us  to  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  made  us  to  feel  that 
there,  and  there  alone,  do  hope  and  pardon  and  reconcilia- 
tion emanate  upon  a guilty  world  ? Was  it  that  low  sense 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


139 


of  morality  which  is  so  often  imputed  to  your  men  of  evan-  . 
gelical  doctrine  and  piety  that  guided  our  footsteps  to  such 
a landing-place?  Yes,  my  brethren,  it  was  a low  sense  of 
the  actual  morality  of  man  that  originated  the  whole  of  this 
process ; but  along  with  this  there  was  also  a high  sense 
of  the  incumbent  morality  of  man — there  was  the  very  feel- 
ing which  actuated  the  apostle  Paul,  and  gave  direction  to 
the  whole  line  of  reasoning  by  which  he  was  conducted 
from  the  doctrine  of  the  spirituality  of  the  law  to  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith  alone.  It  was  setting  up  a 
high  standard  of  virtue  upon  the  degraded  state  of  per- 
formance which  led  to  this  as  the  result  of  the  masterly 
and  invincible  argument  that  runs  through  his  Epistle  to 
the  Romans ; and  therefore  do  I repeat  it,  my  brethren, 
and  recommend  it  to  you  as  a proposition  which  cannot  be 
enough  labored  and  enough  insisted  on,  that  the  theology 
which  receives  eternal  life  as  a gift,  and  acceptance  with 
God  as  an  act  of  gratuitous  kindness,  and  translation  into 
His  favor  as  a matter  of  free  grace,  offered  to  all  and  at 
the  taking  of  all  through  the  appointed  Mediator — that  this 
theology,  so  far  from  being  blind  to  morality,  so  far  from 
having  any  obtuseness  about  the  claims  of  duty  and  of  the 
law,  so  far  from  being  devoid  of  reverence  for  its  authority 
over  man,  makes  all  this  to  be  the  starting  principle  of  its 
faith,  and  proceeds  throughout  the  whole  career  of  its 
reasonings  on  the  august  character  of  virtue,  and  the  extent 
of  its  immutable  obligations. 

And  this,  my  brethren,  conducts  me  to  another  effect  of 
that  system  which  sets  up  for  heaven  as  a claim  to  be  made 
out  by  man.  It  is  not  a system  of  abstract  doctrines  that  I 
am  now  combating — it  is  a practical  error  by  which  the 
consciences  of  men  are  deluded  into  the  feeling  of  peace 
when  there  is  no  peace.  I want  to  convince  them  how 
much  they  aggravate  the  hatefulness  of  all  their  pigmy  and 
superficial  obedience  by  this  act  of  false  confidence  on  their 
part.  Sure  I am  that  they  would  both  feel  and  understand 
it  if  they  were  placed  in  the  very  same  predicament  in 
which  they  place  God.  Did  one  of  their  fellow-men  fall 


140 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


grievously  short  of  his  reverence  or  his  justice  towards 
them,  would  not  that  bare  act  be  enough  of  itself  to  inflict 
upon  their  bosoms  the  feeling  of  provocation  ? Now,  think 
how  this  feeling  would  be  affected  if  the  man  who  had  thus 
injured  you  discovered  no  sense  of  the  wrong  he  had  inflict- 
ed— if  he  carried  it  towards  you  with  as  much  tranquillity 
and  unconcern  as  if  he  had  done  for  you  and  towards  you 
all  you  had  any  title  to  expect.  If  his  conduct  speak  it  to 
be  his  actual  feeling  and  his  sincere  opinion  that  he  had 
treated  you  just  as  you  deserved,  and  that  there  was  noth- 
ing in  some  palpable  misdoing  of  which  he  had  been  guilty 
that  conferred  upon  you  any  right  to  challenge  or  to  re- 
monstrate with  him — think  you  not  that  this  want  of  feeling 
for  his  misconduct  towards  you  would  aggravate  your  feel- 
ing of  provocation  towards  him  ? Have  you  no  recollec- 
tion, my  brethren,  in  your  past  experience  within  this  de- 
partment of  human  intercourse,  that  when  a neighbor  in- 
jures you  there  is  nothing  that  goes  farther  to  soften  the 
whole  impression  of  it,  and  to  pluck  from  the  injury  its  sting, 
than  a becoming  contrition  and  an  adequate  sense  of  its 
enormity  on  his  part  ? and,  on  the  contrary,  should  there 
be  no  such  contrition — if  the  man  who  has  wronged  you 
evinces  no  feeling  of  compunction,  and  utters  no  acknowl- 
edgment of  guilt — if  he  still  continues  to  carry  it  towards 
you  in  a way  that  bespeaks  him  to  be  quite  callous  and  in- 
sensible about  the  evil  of  his  misdoings — is  not  this,  my 
brethren,  the  very  ingredient  which  gives  its  chief  bitter- 
ness to  the  whole  provocation  ? You  perhaps  are  willing 
to  be  reconciled  ; you  are  ready,  even  as  God  is  with  us 
all,  to  forgive  if  he  repent.  But  he  feels  not  that  he  stands 
in  need  of  repentance  ; he  thifiks  not  that  he  is  an  object  for 
forgiveness ; he  is  not  conscious  that  he  has  done  you  an 
injury,  and  will  persist  in  his  secure  and  smiling  and  confi- 
dent approach  after  all  that  you  have  suffered  at  his  hand. 
O,  my  brethren,  is  not  all  this  fitted  to  deepen  the  injury, 
and  to  widen  the  breach,  and  to  make  the  controversy  more 
irreparable,  and  to  kindle  in  the  heart  of  the  injured  man  a 
more  festering  impression  of  rancor  and  discontent  than 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


141 


ever?  All  this  is  very  plain,  and  it  should  just  be  as  plain 
that  when  sinners  entertain  the  hope  of  heaven  as  a claim, 
they,  by  the  very  act  of  doing  so,  aggravate  in  God’s  sight 
the  whole  of  their  sinfulness.  If  they  refuse  it  on  the  foot- 
ing of  a boon,  they  carry  the  insulting  sentiment  along  with 
them  that  they  have  done  nothing  towards  their  Maker 
which  stands  in  need  of  any  forgiveness,  or  of  any  atone- 
ment. It  is  clear  that  with  all  their  talk  about  virtue,  they 
have  at  least  a very  obtuse  feeling  about  the  glory  and  the 
extent  of  it ; for  it  is  a very  humble  portion  indeed  of  its 
attainments  which  satisfies  them. — It  is  clear  that  they  ag- 
gravate excessively  all  the  guilt  they  have  contracted  by 
being  so  blind  as  they  are,  so  insensible  as  they  are  to  the 
malignity  and  extent  of  their  guilt ; and  thus  it  is,  that  while 
the  gospel  is  freely  offered  to  all  as  a defense  against  the 
threatenings  of  a violated  law,  the  rejection  of  the  gospel 
imparts  to  all  those  violations  a greater  foulness  and  enor- 
mity than  ever,  and  will  muster  up  against  those  who  add 
security  to  sin  a more  scowling  array  of  terrors  than  be- 
fore, and  will  bring  upon  them  a deeper  and  a sorer  con- 
demnation from  the  majesty  of  the  offended  Lawgiver. 
How  shall  they  escape  if  they  neglect  so  great  salvation  ? 

But  there  is  another  class  of  professing  Christians  who  la- 
bor under  the  same  misconception — that  the  salvation  of  the 
gospel  is  not  a gift,  but  a claim,  but  who,  unlike  the  former 
instead  of  converting  this  idea  into  an  argument  for  false 
security,  convert  it  into  an  argument  for  despair.  The 
former  looked  at  their  own  performance,  and  were  satisfied 
— the  latter  look  at  their  own  performance  too,  and  looking 
at  it  with  a more  intelligent  and  discerning  eye,  they  are 
not  satisfied.  There  is  a lurking  sentiment  about  them  that 
salvation  is,  somehow  or  other,  the  reward  of  their  right- 
eousness— and  the  conscience,  faithful  to  its  office,  says  that 
this  righteousness  they  want.  This  delusion  throws  a dark- 
ening vail  over  all  their  anticipations  of  futurity.  They 
know  not  the  gift  of  God,  and  in  the  face  of  an  offer,  held 
out  without  any  exception  or  reserve  to  all  who  labor  and 
are  heavy  laden — do  they  refuse  to  be  comforted,  and  give 


142 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


themselves  up  to  all  the  agitations  of  religious  melancholy 
This  is  a peculiar  case,  and  it  often  bids  defiance  to  all  the 
management  of  human  wisdom  and  human  experience.  An 
argument  sometimes  employed  for  soothing  these  unhappy 
agitations  is,  Why  be  discouraged  ? — you  are  not  so  great 
a sinner  as  you  apprehend  yourself  to  be,  and  certainly  not 
worse  than  your  neighbors  around.  To  prefer  such  an 
argument  as  this,  is  to  chime  in  with  the  very  principle 
which  it  should  be  your  first  object  to  extirpate.  It  is  not 
because  you  are  not  so  great  a sinner  that  I would  have 
you  to  be  comforted  ; but  it  is  because  Jesus  Christ  is  so 
great  a Saviour : it  is  not  the  smallness  of  the  sin,  but  the 
greatness  of  Him  who  died  for  it.  I would  have  you  to  be 
satisfied,  but  not  with  yourself,  for  this  would  be  to  lull  you 
asleep  by  the  administration  of  a poisoned  opiate.  I would 
have  you  to  listen  to  that  loud  and  widely  sounding  call — 
u Look  unto  me,  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth,  and  be  saved.”  I 
would  have  you  to  look  unto  Jesus  ; and  if  truth  and  friend- 
ship have  a power  to  charm  you  into  tranquillity,  you  have 
them  here.  I would  never  cease  to  press  the  salvation  of 
the  gospel  upon  you  as  a gift ; and  as  faith  cometh  by  hear- 
ing, and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God,  I would  call  into  action 
these  appointed  instruments  for  producing  in  the  heart  of 
the  despairing  sinner  the  faith  which  accepts  the  offer, 
and  which  holds  it  fast.  I cannot  ascend  into  heaven  to 
bring  down  Jesus  again  upon  the  world,  that  you  may  hear 
the  kindness  which  fell  from  His  lips,  and  see  the  counte- 
nance most  frankly  expressive  of  it ; but  I can  bring  the 
word  which  He  left  behind  Him  nigh  unto  you.  I can 
assure  you,  upon  the  faith  of  that  word  which  never  lies, 
that  what  He  was  on  earth  He  is  still  in  heaven ; and  if  in 
the  history  of  the  New  Testament  He  was  never  found  to 
send  a diseased  petitioner  disappointed  away,  be  assured 
that  when  He  took  up  His  body  to  the  right  hand  of  the 
everlasting  throne,  He  took  up  all  His  kind  and  warm  and 
generous  sympathies  along  with  Him.  I cannot  show  you 
Him  in  person,  but  I can  reveal  Him  to  the  eye  of  your 
mind  as  sitting  there  ; and  if  you  array  Him  in  any  other 


THE!  LIVING  WATER. 


143 


characters  than  in  those  of  love  and  mildness  and  long-suf- 
fering, you  do  Him  an  injustice.  He  no  longer  speaks  in 
His  own  person,  but  He  speaks  in  the  person  of  those  to 
whom  He  has  committed  the  word  of  reconciliation ; and 
in  the  confidence  that  He  will  not  falsify  His  own  commis- 
sion, or  fall  back  by  a single  inch  from  the  terms  of  it,  we 
stand  here  as  the  embassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God 
did  beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you,  in  Christ’s  stead,  be 
ye  reconciled  to  God.  I would  have  you  to  know  the  gift 
of  God.  I would  have  you  to  look  upon  it  in  the  simplicity 
of  an  offer,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  a joyful  and  confiding 
acceptance  on  the  other.  When  He  was  on  earth  great 
multitudes  followed  Him,  and  He  healed  them.  Come  to 
Him  with  your  disease — the  disease  of  a guilty  and  despair- 
ing mind.  Do  not  think  that  either  the  will  or  the  power 
of  healing  you  is  wanting.  You  approach  Him  in  the  most 
peculiar  and  in  the  greatest  of  His  capacities,  when  you 
approach  Him  as  the  physician  of  souls  ; and  be  assured 
that  the  voice  which  He  uttered  in  the  hearing  of  His  coun- 
trymen is  of  standing  authority  and  signification  to  the  very 
latest  ages  of  the  world — “ Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I will  give  you  rest.”  Yes  ! if 
rest  is  to  be  found  at  all,  it  must  be  given.  It  is  upon  the 
footing  of  a gift  that  I offer  it  to  you.  Not  that  you  are 
worthy  to  receive  the  present,  but  that  it  is  a present 
worthy  of  His  generosity  to  bestow.  Take  it.  There  is 
not  a single  passage  in  the  Bible  to  exclude  you  from  this 
act  of  confidence.  Be  not  afraid — only  believe — and  ac- 
cording to  your  faith,  so  will  it  be  done  unto  you. 

It  is  remarkable  enough,  my  brethren,  that  the  false  peace 
of  him  who  is  satisfied,  with  the  measure  of  his  own  per- 
formances, and  the  disquietude ‘of  him  who  wastes  himself 
away  in  the  agitations  of  religious  melancholy,  should  both 
have  one  common  ingredient.  With  both  of  them  there  is 
a strong  adhering  impression  in  their  minds,  that  in  order  to 
deserve  heaven  they  must  somehow  or  other  make  out  their 
claim  to  it.  The  former  underrates  the  expense  and  the 
difficulty  of  making  out  this  claim ; and  on  the  strength  of 


144 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


a few  peaceable  and  neighborly  accomplishments,  will  he 
cherish  all  the  tranquillity  of  hope,  even  though  his  heart 
be  alienated  from  God,  and  in  every  one  point  of  its  exac- 
tions he  not  only  falls  short  of,  but  flies  in  the  direct  face 
of  His  spiritual  law.  The  latter  brings  the  law  to  a truer 
estimate — to  a larger  view  of  the  extent  and  spirituality  of 
its  requirements,  perceives  most  distinctly  the  shortness  and 
the  unworthiness  of  which  the  other  is  insensible,  but  shar- 
ing with  him  in  the  conception  that  heaven  must  be  prose- 
cuted as  a claim,  he  consumes  all  his  energies,  and  fritters 
away  all  his  comfort,  and  drags  out  the  days  of  a dark  and 
wearisome  existence  in  an  enterprise  through  which  no 
device  of  human  wisdom  and  no  strength  of  human  exer- 
tion will  ever  successfully  carry  him.  It  is  not,  perhaps, 
generally  adverted  to,  but  it  is  not  the  less  true,  that  there 
remains  in  the  heart  of  every  melancholy  inquirer  a strong 
taint  and  remainder  of  legalism.  What  else  is  it  that  forms 
an  obstacle  to  that  peace  he  is  so  earnestly  aspiring  after? 
Why  should  he  feel  such  an  obstinate  and  immovable  dis- 
comfort on  the  subject  of  his  own  sins  and  deficiencies  ? 
Why  is  he  continually  postponing  his  confidence  in  God, 
and  his  peaceful  fellowship  with  God,  till  somehow  or  other 
he  gets  these  sins  and  deficiencies  to  depart  away  from  him  ? 
Wherefore  is  it  that  he  will  not  make  the  transition  which 
the  bidding  of  the  Gospel  fairly  warrants  him  to  make,  and 
in  virtue  of  which  he  may  come  to  the  Saviour  at  this  mo- 
ment as  he  is,  and  enter  into  acceptance  with  God  through 
the  open  door  of  Christ’s  Mediatorship ; and  for  the  dark 
and  terrible  emotions  which  are  now  raising  a tempest  in 
his  inner  4man,  why  does  he  not  take  hold  of  the  offered 
forgiveness,  and  have  a rejoicing  sense  of  the  favor  of  heaven 
— with  a mind  at  rest  from  all  its  fears  ? Why  is  he  not 
even  now  in  that  state  of  serenity  and  enjoyment  which 
would  arise  from  a grateful  sense  of  the  Redeemer’s  services, 
and  from  the  quiet  assurance  of  a firm  and  confident  recon- 
ciliation? Why,  my  brethren,  the  reason  is  just  because 
he  does  not  see  forgiveness  to  be  an  offer — just  because  he 
>s  blind  to  that  most  essential  character  of  the  Gospel  dis- 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


145 


pensation,  that  it  is  all  a matter  of  grace — just  because  there 
is  a darkening  shroud  which  mantles  from  the  eye  of  his 
spirit  that  benignant  feature  of  Christianity,  in  virtue  of 
which  there  beams  from  it  the  freest  and  kindliest  expres- 
sion of  good-will  to  the  children  of  men.  I shall  at  least 
tell  him  one  thing,  that  on  his  present  track  of  mere  exer- 
tion he  never  will  find  his  way  to  that  peace  after  which 
he  is  so  earnestly  aspiring.  1 want  not  to  discourage  his 
exertion  ; but  I want  to  let  him  know  that  if  he  ever  should 
come  to  solid  tranquillity  of  heart  about  the  concerns  of 
his  immortality,  it  will  be  by  that  very  sight  of  the  Gospel 
which  I am  now  laboring  to  set  before  him ; it  will  be  by 
the  acceptance  of  all  its  privileges  and  of  all  its  blessings 
on  the  footing  of  a present ; it  will  be  by  perceiving  that 
pardon  is  gratuitously  held  out  to  him  ; and  there  is  no  one 
point  of  reformation  to  which  he  can  ever  carry  himself 
that  will  entitle  him  to  cherish  the  expectation  of  God’s 
favor  on  another  ground,  or  to  feel  any  thing  else  than  that 
it  is  just  the  offered  pardon  which  forms  all  the  dependence 
he  can  build  upon  and  all  the  security  he  can  cling  to.  Why 
then  postpone  by  a single  moment  longer  the  translation 
of  your  mind  out  of  this  state  of  darkness  into  the  marvel- 
ous light  of  the  Gospel?  Why  not  hearken  diligently  even 
now  U>  God’s  declaration  of  Himself,  as  God  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world,  and  not  imputing  to  them  their  tres- 
passes ? The  simple  acceptance  of  the  gift  will  be  the 
footing  at  last  on  which  the  peace  of  an  established  Chris- 
tianity is  to  take  possession  of  your  hearts,  if  ever  it  take 
possession  of  them  at  all.  Why,  then,  at  the  instant  of  time 
in  which  I am  addressing  you,  keep  any  longer  at  a distance  * 
from  the  gift,  and  hold  out  any  longer  so  sullenly  and  so 
suspiciously  against  the  frank  and  generous  offer  of  it? 
Why  work  for  another  day  separate  from  Christ  when 
Christ  says  to  you  all,  Come  to  me  now,  and  I will  lift  the 
burden  of  despondency  away  from  you — ay,  and  cause  you 
even  to  work  with  a spring  and  an  energy  of  performance 
to  which  you  will  ever  remain  a stranger  while  the  heavy 
load  of  your  present  fears  and  your  present  discomforts  still 
VOL.  vi.— G 


jl46 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


continues  to  oppress  you  ? It  is  by  an  act  of  trust  in  and 
willing  obedience  to  such  a call  as  this  that  the  grand  trans- 
ition will  be  made  from  the  spirit  of  bondage  to  the  spirit 
of  adoption.  You  wilf  not,  my  brethren,  be  in  a state  of 
greater  readiness  for  effecting  this  transition  by  persisting 
in  the  spirit  of  bondage  for  some  weeks  or  months  longer 
from  the  time  at  which  I am  now  addressing  you.  Let  it 
therefore  be  your  business  now  to  look  to  the  Gospel  in  its 
character  of  freeness — to  lay  hold  of  it  agreeably  to  the 
urgency  of  its  own  invitations — -to  keep  fast  by  it  as  an  as- 
surance of  good-will,  the  fulfillment  of  which  is  unto  all  and 
upon  all  that  believe.  Sure  I am  that  could  we  detach  from 
your  bosom  that  poisonous  ingredient  of  sentiment  by  which, 
separately  from  the  Gospel,  you  look  on  heaven  as  a claim, 
the  charm  which  now  binds  down  your  spirit  to  melancholy 
as  by  a spell  of  resistless  operation  would  instantly  be  dis- 
sipated, and  you  would  close  with  the  offered  gift ; and  just 
in  proportion  as  you  believed  the  truths  of  the  Bible  would 
you  have  quietness  and  joy  in  the  felt  possession  of  it ; and 
from  the  moment  that  the  ignorance  of  my  text  was  chased 
away,  and  you  began  to  know  the  gift  of  God,  from  that 
moment  would  this  verse  of  Scripture  have  its  whole  effect 
and  fulfillment  upon  you — “ Acquaint  thyself  with  God,  and 
be  at  peace.” 

But,  again,  the  ignorance  imputed  to  the  woman  of  Sa- 
maria in  the  words,  “ Hadst  thou  known  the  gift  of  God,” 
does  not  lie  merely  in  the  ignorance  of  it  being  a gift,  but 
in  the  ignorance  of  what  the  gift  is.  Before  taking  up  the 
particular  expression  into  which  our  Saviour  has  cast  it, 
•let  me  submit  to  your  attention  this  undoubted  truth,  that 
eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  Now,  it  does  not  occur  to  me  that  there  is  room 
to  complain  of  ignorance,  in  as  far  as  the  bare  and  general 
information  of  this  last-mentioned  passage  is  concerned.  It 
is  universally  known,  that  eternal  life  is  the  great  object 
which  the  Gospel  proposes  to  obtain  for  all  its  followers. 
Men  may  not  be  aware  that  this  eternal  life  is  a gift ; but 
this  is  a misconception  which  I have  already  attempted  to 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


147 


dispose  of.  They  are  in  general  aware,  that  whether  viewed 
in  the  light  of  a gift  or  a claim,  eternal  life  is  the  termina- 
tion and  inheritance  of  all  who  have  an  interest  in  the 
promises  of  the  better  covenant.  They  may  not  be  so 
ieelingly  alive  to  the  greatness  of  this  object  as  its  import- 
ance  demands.  They  may  carry  about  with  them  a very 
faint  and  very  feeble  conception  of  it.  It  may  be  seldom 
present  to  their  minds,  and  when  it  is  present  the  impression 
ot  it  may  be  too  slender  to  overpower  the  domineering  influ- 
ence of  the  present  scene  and  the  present  temptation.  All 
this  is  very  general ; but  as  far  as  my  observation  goes*  the 
positive  ignorance  of  everlasting  happiness  in  heaven  being 
the  final  lot  of  every  true  Christian,  is  not  general.  Men 
know  it,  though  they  do  not  feel  it  in  sentiment,  nor  proceed 
upon  it  m action  and  in  behavior. 

But  may  be  said,  if  a man  knows  that  “Eternal  life  is 
the  gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord”— is  not  this 
to  know  the  sum  and  the  substance  of  Christian  doctrine? 
Is  not  this  a compendious  expression,  which  embraces  in  its 
ample  grasp  all  that  is  important?  and  after  this  is  fairly 
hxed  in  the  creed  and  understanding  of  a Christian,  is  there 
any  thing  more  in  the  way  of  teaching  or  explanation  which 
remains  to  be  done  for  him  ? This  is  a highly  curious  and 
a highly  interesting  question,  and  if  we  had  time  for  it,  might 
lead  to  a lengthened  discussion  upon  a very  interesting  sub- 
ject.  Let  me  remark,  however,  that  it  seems  to  be  very 
much  the  tendency  of  speculative  Christians  to  run  up  their 
religious  faith  into  one  sweeping  principle,  and  into  one 
short  but  ample  proposition.  This  one  thing,  whatever  it 
is,  is  made  to  stand  upon  the  foreground  of  all  their  specula- 
tions. Whatever  be  the  subject  betwixt  you,  you  are  ex- 
posed to  a never-varying  recurrence  to  the  favorite  maxim. 
It  is  very  true  that  there  is  a subordination  in  truth,  and 
none  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know  that  one  truth  may  embrace 
and  carry  another  along  with  it.  But  what  I have  to  com- 
plain of  is,  that  this  exclusive  attention  to  the  one  reigning 
principle  of  their  orthodoxy,  instead  of  taking  in  the  other 
truths,  has  the  actual  effect  in  their  mind  of  keeping  them 


148 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


out.  Their  wisdom,  unlike  that  of  the  scribe  who  has 
treasured  up  things  new  and  old,  admits  of  no  number,  no 
variety  in  its  objects.  Instead  of  repairing  to  the  law  and 
the  testimony  with  the  docility  of  children,  ready  to  embrace 
them  in  all  their  variety,  and  in  all  their  particulars,  their 
great  exercise  is  to  subdue  them  all  to  their  own  systematic 
arrangement,  and  compel  them  to  a forced  subordination  to 
their  own  riveted  and  antecedent  principle.  If  this  be  not 
calling  another  man  master,  and  acting  upon  an  authority 
which  is  above  Christ,  and  beyond  Him,  it  is  something 
very  like  it.  I hope,  before  I am  done,  to  make  this  a little 
clearer  by  pointing  your  attention  to  one  most  malignant 
example  of  it ; but,  in  the  mean  time,  does  it  not  strike  you, 
that  in  th§  whole  of  this  proceeding  there  is  a complexion 
of  thought,  and  a train  of  speculations  not  to  be  found  in 
the  pure  and  original  record — that  the  Christianity  which 
exists  in  such  a mind  is  not  a fair  transcript  of  the  Christian- 
ity which  exists  in  the  New  Testament ; and  I refer  it  to  the 
conscience  of  all  such,  whether  the  act  of  mind  by  which 
they  appropriate  a doctrine  and  an  article  be  a simple  act 
of  submission  to  the  saying  of  Christ — be  a casting  down 
of  their  own  lofty  imaginations,  and  bringing  every  thought 
into  the  captivity  of  His  obedience  ? 

To  take  up  the  question  then — if  “ Eternal  life  being  the 
gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,”  formed  the 
whole  of  God’s  communication— if,  instead  of  a Bible  made 
up  of  various  particulars,  and  containing  in  it  things  new 
and  old,  the  whole  of  the  divine  message  had  been  com- 
prised in  one  short  note  or  intimation,  by  which  we  were 
given  to  understand,  that  the  prolongation  of  our  lives  to 
eternity  was  granted  to  us  by  God  through  the  instrument- 
ality of  Christ  Jesus — this  information,  general  as  it  is,  if 
thought  enough  by  God  to  give,  should  have  been  thought 
enough  by  us  to  receive  ; and  on  the  principle  of  not  being 
wise  above  that  which  is  written,  it  would  have  been  our 
part  thankfully  to  have  acquiesced,  and  humbly  to  have 
restrained  our  curiosity  within  the  limits  assigned  to  it. 
But,  in  point  of  fact,  God  has  not  thought  the  information 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


149 


of  this  single  sentence  enough  for  us — He  has  given  us 
more,  and  this  more  is  expanded  over  the  broad  surface  of 
a voluminous  record.  This  is  quite  decisive.  We  should 
not  be  wise  above  that  which  is  written,  but  we  should  be 
wise  up  to  that  which  is  written.  We  should  follow  God 
respectfully  through  all  His  revelations,  and  our  faith  in 
Him  should  be  as  varied  and  as  particular  as  His  commu- 
nications to  us.  We  should  make  ourselves  acquainted 
with  all  Scripture — for  all  Scripture  is  said  to  be  profitable ; 
and  if,  instead  of  looking  fairly  into  all  its  parts,  and  follow- 
ing it  with  cheerful  submission  through  all  its  varieties,  we 
fasten  upon  one  principle,  and  then  give  ourselves  up  to  our 
own  speculations  and  our  own  analogies,  instead  of  acting 
the  part  of  the  teachable  child,  who  takes  his  lesson  as  it  is 
presented  to  him,  we  are  making  the  wisdom  of  man  carry 
it  over  the  wisdom  of  heaven,  and  at  the  very  time  too, 
perhaps,  that  orthodoxy  is  our  watch- word,  and  purity  of 
doctrine  is  our  boast  and  our  rejoicing. 

Notv  the  effect  of  this  observation  should  but  send  you 
to  your  Bibles,  and  my  prayer  to  heaven  is  that  these 
Bibles  may  become  your  daily  delight  and  your  daily  ex- 
ercise, so  as  to  make  you  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus/  I can  not  in  the  compass  of  one 
sermon  give  you  a comprehensive  view  of  the  whole  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus ; but  as  to  this  eternal  life  which  He  has 
purchased  for  men,  there  are  two  capital  points  of  information 
which  I cannot  keep  back  from  you.  The  eternal  life  which 
He  has  purchased  for  men,  you  will  observe  that  He  has  pur- 
chased for  sinners,  and  the  first  capital  point  which  He  has 
secured  for  them  is  the  pardon  of  their  sins  by  the  merit  of 
His  atoning  sacrifice.  I know  that  to  this  very  hour  the  cross 
of  Christ  is  a stumbling-block,  and  that  with  certain  habits 
of  speculation,  the  taste  and  the  prejudice  of  many  are  in 
arms  against  it.  They  are  willing  to  receive  Christ  in  the 
general  form  of  their  Mediator — they  will  acquiesce  in  the 
doctrine  so  far,  and  feel  no  repugnance  to  eternal  life  as  the 
gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ; but  the  power 
of  the  peace-speaking  blood  they  will  not  understand;  and 


150 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


why,  say  they,  will  you  step  beyond  the  limits  of  this  pas- 
sage for  the  purpose  of  tacking  so  offensive  an  addition  to 
it?  For  this  best  of  reasons,  I answer,  that  God  has  been 
pleased  to  go  beyond  the  communication  of  this  passage  by 
tacking  to  it  so  many  more  passages  which  contain  this  addi- 
tion. 1 call  upon  them  to  have  a care, lest  they  be  serving  two 
masters,  and  thus  be  trying  to  make  a compromise  betwixt 
the  word  of  God  and  their  own  fancy.  I warn  them,  that 
to  be  Christians  altogether,  they  must,  if  necessary,  cut  off 
a right  hand  or  a right  eye ; and  if  there  be  any  darling 
corruption  of  their  own  which  opposed?  itself  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  cross,  I appeal  to  their  consciences,  while  I repeat  to 
them  the  following  passages  with  which  I confront  it  : — 
•‘Justified  freely  by  His  grace  through  the  redemption 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  whom  God  has  set  forth  to  be  a 
propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood.” — “ He  hath  appeared 
to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself.” — “So  Christ 
was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many.” — “Who  His 
own  self  bare  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree  f and 
lastly,  because  we  do  not  wish  to  detain  you,  and  not 
because  we  have  arrived  at  the  end  of  the  Scripture  testi- 
monies, “ Christ  hath  given  Himself  for  us  an  offering  and 
a sacrifice  to  God  for  a sweet-smelling  savor.”  I offer  no 
commentary — I confine  myself  to  a simple  exhibition  of  the 
Bible,  and  upon  the  strength  of  what  has  been  exhibited,  1 
call  upon  the  avowed  enemies  of  the  atonement  to  cast 
down  their  lofty  imagination. — I come  back  upon  those 
professing  Christians  who  look  upon  their  own  performan- 
ces, and  think  they  have  done  enough,  and  put  it  to  their 
consciences  now  whether  God  thinks  so.  I ask  them  to 
look  at  that  grand  and  mysterious  movement  which  was 
made  in  heaven,  when  the  eternal  Son  left  the  bosom  of 
His  Father,  and  a choir  of  heaven’s  host  sung  His  advent 
to  this  lower  world — and  for  what  purpose  ? To  magnify 
that  law  which  you  make  so  light  of,  and  to  make  honor- 
able that  which  you  have  disgraced  and  trampled  upon. 
O let  me  put  it  to  the  consciences  of  those  men  who,  satis- 
fied with  their  own  performances,  look  forward  on  the 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


151 


strength  of  them  to  a smooth  transition  through  the  valley 
of  death,  and  an  entrance  of  triumph  into  the  land  of  im- 
mortality. If  their  performances  be  enough,  what  meaneth 
this  mysterious  sacrifice  ? Where  the  use  and  where  the 
virtue  of  the  atonement?  To  what  end  the  agonies  of  that 
illustrious  sufferer,  on  whose  death  the  eye  of  prophecy 
throughout  the  whole  of  her  magnificent  career,  from  the 
first  generation  of  the  world  down  to  the  closing  of  the  Old 
Testament,  was  ever  pointed  as  the  prominent  object  of  her 
contemplations?  Think  you  that  all  this  was  for  no  sub- 
stantial object  in  the  counsels  of  heaven  ? or  that  the  decease 
which  was  accomplished  at  Jerusalem,  and  of  which  the 
simple  and  touching  memorials  are  so  soon  to  be  set  evi- 
dently before  you,  carries  with  it  no  influence,  and  brings 
the  accomplishment  of  no  busy  and  important  design  along 
with  it  ? Ah,  my  brethren,  its  meaning  was  to  make  an 
end  of  trangression  ; and  that  every  one  of  you,  whose  life, 
in  spite  of  all  your  security,  has  been  one  continued  course 
of  transgression,  might,  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant,  have  the  remembrance  of  them  all  washed  away. 
Its  meaning  was  to  bring  in  an  everlasting  righteousness,  that 
you,  casting  off*  all  dependence  on  your  own  fancied  attain- 
ments, might  rest  the  whole  of  it  upon  an  immovable  founda- 
tion ; and  rest  assured,  that  you  will  never  enter  with  an 
unfaltering  heart  into  the  presence  of  God ; you  will  never 
know  what  it  is  to  have  light  and  comfort  in  prayer;  you  will 
never  taste  the  sweets  of  the  spirit  of  adoption ; you  will  never 
be  delivered  from  all  the  darkening  remainders  of  fear  and  of 
suspicion  which  still  chase  out  from  your  bosom  the  light  of 
the  reconciled  countenance  and  the  joys  of  the  Christian  sal- 
vation; you  will  never,  in  the  whole  course  of  your  earthly 
existence,  have  firm  assurance  toward  God,  or  be  able  to  talk 
with  Him  as  one  talketh  with  a friend,  till  that  time  cometh 
when  you  shall  transfer  your  confidence  from  yourself  to  the 
Saviour  who  died  for  you;  and  brought  into  peace  with  God 
through  Him  who  was  offered  the  just  for  the  unjust,  you  have 
His  merits  to  plead  with  the  Lawgiver,  and  His  interces- 
sion to  shield  you  from  His  righteous  indignation. 


152 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


I turn  now  to  those  professing  Christians  who  look  at 
their  own  performances,  and  are  not  satisfied  with  them- 
selves, and  call  upon  them  to  think  of  the  mighty  satisfac- 
tion that  has  been  made  for  them  by  another.  Let  them 
point  their  eye  to  the  blood  of  the  atoning  sacrifice,  and  in 
its  peace-speaking  power  they  will  feel  a consolation  and 
a charm  which  no  lame  or  feeble  generality  is  ever  able  to 
impress.  I ask  them — why  persist  in  this  sullen  despond- 
ency ? why  keep  so  intolerably  by  their  fears  ? why  is  t'ne 
charm  of  a beseeching  God  and  of  the  mighty  expedient 
that  He  has  set  up  for  the  removal  and  utter  extinction  of 
the  gulf  between  Him  and  His  creatures — why  is  this  so 
obstinately  withstood  by  them  ? I have  tried  to  cheer  you 
out  of  this  leaden  and  oppressive  melancholy;  I have  tried 
to  arouse  you  out  of  it ; I have  tried  to  win  you  out  of  it, 
and  if  possible  to  dissolve  it  by  the  language  of  smiling 
invitation.  But  I do  more — I try  to  reproach  you  out  of  it. 
This  is  what  the  Bible  does,  and  what  a minister  of  the 
Bible  is  warranted  in  doing  also.  By  refusing  the  comforts 
of  the  Christian  faith,  you  make  God  a liar;  you  repudiate 
the  testimony  that  He  gives  of  His  Son;  you  give  Him  no 
credit  for  the  kindness  that  He  is  so  largely  and  so  liberally 
manifesting  in  behalf  of  all  who  will ; you  strip  the  great 
atonement  of  its  power ; you  refuse  to  ascribe  glory  and 
honor  to  that  redemption  from  which  you  take  away  all  if 
you  take  the  surenesses  of  its  unfailing  promises  away  from 
it ; you  return  a cold  and  unwelcome  look  to  all  its  invita- 
tions ; and  those  words  of  which  it  is  said  that  heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away  ere  they  pass  away,  you  suffer  them 
to  fall  upon  your  ear,  and  to  have  as  little  effect  upon  you 
as  if  they  were  without  truth  and  without  significancy. 

I have  now  come  to  our  Saviour’s  own  specific  descrip- 
tion of  what  the  gift  is.  He  calls  it  living  water ; and  to 
make  you  understand  what  this  living  water  is,  we  have 
nothing  more  to  do  than  repeat  that  verse  of  John  where 
our  Saviour  says,  “ If  any  man  shall  believe  in  me,  out  of 
him  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water;  and  it  is  added,  “This 
spake  He  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believe  on  Him 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


153 


should  receive ; for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given, 
because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified.”  Now  observe, 
my  brethren,  how  I connect  this  second  piece  of  information 
with  the  former.  Are  there  some  who  yield  a kind  of 
general  acquiescence  in  the  New  Testament,  without  any 
specific  attention  of  the  mind  to  the  doctrine  of  the  New 
Testament  throughout  all  its  verses  ? There  are  some  who 
think  they  believe  in  the  lump,  but  who  prove  that  there  is  no 
reality  in  the  belief  by  the  act  of  shrinking  from  the  details. 
There  are  some  of  these  general  Christians  to  whom  there 
is  nothing  unpalatable  in  the  wide  and  summary  announce- 
ment, that  eternal  life  is  somehow  or  other  obtained  for  us 
by  the  instrumentality  of  Christ  Jesus  as  a mediator;  but 
who  feel  all  the  revoltings  of  the  natural  enmity  when 
you  come  to  the  separate  items  and  the  distinct  parts  of 
this  mediatorship.  I may  not  be  speaking  to  the  experience 
of  a single  tenth  of  the  people  now  before  me ; but  it  is 
right  for  a minister  to  have  his  eye  upon  that  whole  field 
of  humanity  that  he  is  called  to  cultivate ; and  I am  quite 
sure  that  there  exists  a very  numerous  class  of  decent  and 
lukewarm  professors  of  the  gospel,  who,  while  they  keep 
by  the  grand  generality  of  the  doctrine  of  eternal  life 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  still  mix  up  along  with  it  a 
kind  of  practical  system  for  the  attainment  of  eternal  life, 
which  keeps  out  of  view  and  out  of  influence  entirely  any 
distinct  or  practical  reference  to  the  priesthood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  to  the  great  atonement  He  has  made  for  the  sins 
of  those  who  believe  in  Him.  Now,  the  way  to  argue  these 
people  out  of  their  meager  and  superficial  Christianity,  is  just 
to  take  the  Bible  and  turn  up  its  pages  along  with  them — to 
tell  them  that  all  their  general  reverence  for  the  book  is 
nothing  but  a mockery  and  a semblance,  if  they  do  not  open 
the  book  and  run  a simple  and  unwinking  eye  over  all  the  mat- 
ter that  is  contained  in  it — to  arrest  them  at  every  particular 
passage  by  which  the  doctrine  of  the  sacrifice,  and  of  justifi- 
cation through  faith  in  that  sacrifice,  is  made  known  to  us,  and 
stopping  the  finger  on  each  distinct  clause  of  information, 
to  challenge  the  belief  just  because  the  information  is  thsre 


154 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


The  heaven  which  Christ  purchased  for  sinners  they 
never  can  enter  until  they  are  made  meet  for  it.  This  is 
the  second  capital  point  of  information  which  I proposed 
to  come  forward  with.  A sinner  to  get  eternal  life  must 
obtain  forgiveness  through  faith  in  the  blood  of  the  atoning 
sacrifice  ; and,  again,  a sinner  to  get  eternal  life  must  obtain 
purification  and  holiness  through  the  operation  of  the  Spirit, 
which  is  given  to  them  that  believe.  There  are  professing 
Christians  who  acquiesce  in  the  general  doctrine  of  eternal 
life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  at  the  same  time 
refuse  the  first  point  of  information  ; and,  in  the  same  man- 
ner, there  are  professing  Christians  who  acquiesce  in  the 
same  general  doctrine,  and  do  not  refuse  the  first  point  of 
information,  but  who  refuse  the  second.  They  deny  the 
necessity  of  personal  holiness,  and  feel  not  merely  a cold 
indifference,  but  feel  a positive  dislike  to  this  undoubted 
truth,  that  whom  God  justifieth  them  He  also  sanctifieth. 
This  repugnance  to  the  sound  teaching  which  is  according 
to  godliness,  breaks  out  into  a thousand  displays.  It  ap- 
pears in  the  life.  It  may  be  seen  in  that  act  of  mind  by 
which  many  a deceiver  has  been  known  to  couple  with  the 
doctrine  of  Christ’s  sufficiency,  a feeling  of  security  in  the 
commission  of  sin.  Ministers  have  felt  it  to  their  own  mor- 
tifying experience,  when,  at  the  very  time  that  they  were 
standing  at  the  deathbed  of  a parishioner,  and  prayer  fell 
like  music  upon  the  ear  of  the  dying  man,  they  have  de- 
tected him  in  the  utterance  of  falsehood,  and  have  made 
the  galling  discovery  that  theft  was  practiced  in  his  family 
with  his  knowledge  and  his  approbation.  To  add  to  the 
mischievous  and  unmanageable  inveteracy  of  the  error,  it 
has  assumed  all  the  shape  and  appearance  of  a system — it 
has  put  on  the  semblance  of  orthodoxy — a set  of  quirks  and 
distinctions  have  been  made  to  supersede  the  broad,  urgent, 
and  impressive  simplicity  of  apostolical  truth.  A teacher 
cannot  come  forward  with  the  good  works  which  Paul 
willed  that  he  should  affirm  constantly,  but  there  are  hear- 
ers now-a-day  who,  instead  of  listening  to  take  it  in,  throw 
themselves  into  a defensive  attitude  for  the  purpose  of  ward- 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


155 


ing  it  off.  To  conciliate  such  hearers  he  must  offer  a thou- 
sand apologies — he  must  fill  up  his  half-hour  with  scholastic 
explanations — practice  and  duty  must  be  elbowed  out  alto- 
gether, or  degraded  into  perfect  insignificance  by  the  nar- 
rowness of  the  corner  which  they  are  thrust  into  ; and  that 
precious  time  is  spent  in  nibbling  away  at  the  point  and 
pedantry  of  artificial  divisions,  which  would  have  been  bet- 
ter employed  in  alarming  the  conscience,  and  urging  the 
broad  and  impressive  warning  of  the  apostle,  “ Be  not  de- 
ceived : neither  fornicators,  nor  adulterers,  nor  thieves,  nor 
covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,nor  extortioners,  shall 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.”  No,  my  brethren,  all  these 
things  must  be  done  away.  They  were  done  away  in  the 
case  of  the  Christians  to  whom  the  apostle  addressed  him- 
self ; and  in  what  manner?  “ They  were  washed  and  sanc- 
tified in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of 
our  God.” 

The  same  principle  applies  to  the  second  point  of  inform- 
ation which  I brought  to  bear  upon  the  first.  You  have 
no  right  to  attach  yourself  to  one  truth  to  the  exclusion  of 
another.  You  have  no  right  first  to  derive  one  principle 
from  the  Bible,  and  then  to  derive  a second  from  it  by  dint 
of  your  own  excogitations.  You  are  to  take  the  second 
principle  as  well  as  the  first  from  the  Bible — you  are  to  fol- 
low the  Bible  with  respectful  footstep  through  all  its  details 
and  all  its  additional  communications ; and  when  I offer 
suv*h  obvious  passages  as  the  following,  I call  upon  you  to 
be  convinced,  and  to  acknowledge  them  ; — “ There  is  there- 
fore now  no  condemnation  to  those  which  are  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.” — 
“ If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of 
His.” — “ But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith.”  If  the  Bible  will  not 
convince,  little  can  be  done  by  a mere  human  interpreter ; 
and  nothing  remains  but  to  deplore  the  delusion  which  I 
cannot  rectify — to  pity  and  to  pray  for  it. 

The  very  expedient  by  which  I attempted  to  school  the 
general  Christian  into  a distinct  and  pointed  recognition  of 


156 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


the  atonement,  I employ  for  the  purpose  of  schooling  the 
partial  Christian  into  a recognition  equally  distinct  and 
equally  pointed  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit.  It  all  resolves 
itself  into  a belief  of  the  law  and  of  the  testimony,  and  not 
such  a belief  as  will  rest  in  the  bare  acquiescence  that  the 
testimony  is  true,  but  such  a belief  as  will  urge  on  its  pos- 
sessor to  an  actual  examination  of  the  testimony — such  a 
belief  as  will  close  with  all  the  parts  of  the  testimony — 
such  a belief  as  will  appropriate  every  distinct  communica- 
tion as  it  passes  in  review  before  the  eye  of  a mind  earnestly 
bent  on  becoming  wise  unto  salvation  through  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testament — such  a belief  as  a 
little  child  exercises  when  it  follows  by  its  convictions  all 
the  separate  parts  of  the  narrative  which  its  parent  sets  be- 
fore it.  The  belief  follows,  not  because  this  second  thing 
that  is  told  me  blends  in  one  harmonious  analogy  with  the 
first  thing  that  was  told  me,  but  the  belief  embraces  both 
the  things,  just  because  both  the  things  are  told  me  in  the 
written  and  venerable  record. 

Take  this  along  with  you,  my  brethren,  and  you  will  per- 
ceive at  once  how  the  doctrine  of  free  grace  is  delivered  in 
the  Bible — how  the  doctrine  of  heaven  being  a gift,  and  par- 
don being  a gift,  and  all  the  privileges  of  Christianity  being 
so  many  gifts — you  will  perceive  at  once  how  these  state 
ments  may  be  defended  on  the  one  hand  from  the  abuses  of 
a corrupting  Antinomianism,  and  how  on  the  other  they 
may  be  defended  from  the  reproaches  of  those  who  say  of 
the  evangelical  doctrine,  that  it  gives  up  all  the  securities 
of  practical  righteousness.  There  is  not  one  of  these  doc- 
trines which  does  not  rest  for  all  its  credibility  and  all  its 
title  to  acceptance  on  the  announcement  of  God.  And 
should  God  be  pleased  to  add  to  them  another  announce- 
ment, it  takes  its  station  among  the  former  with  all  the  firm 
footing  of  an  equal  and  a co-ordinate  authority.  The  living 
water  is  a gift,  and  it  is  a never-failing  accompaniment  of 
all  the  other  gifts  ; and  if  it  be  wanting,  then  every  one  ol 
them  is  wanting.  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  God 
Without  the  Spirit,  we  are  none  of  Christ’s.  The  Spirit  ii 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


157 


called  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance  ; and  if  we  obtain  not 
the  earnest  on  this  side  of  time,  we  shall  not  obtain  the  in- 
heritance on  the  other  side  of  time.  Ah,  my  brethren,  be 
assured  that  He  who  opens  the  portal  of  the  mind  for  a 
welcome  admission  of  the  tidings  of  pardon  and  accept- 
ance, does  not  close  it  upon  the  truth  which  ever  follows  in 
their  train  that  we  shall  never  reach  heaven,  unless  by  sanc- 
tification we  are  made  meet  for  heaven.  This  is  borne  in, 
as  it  were,  upon  a Christian  mind  with  as  resistless  an  ener- 
gy, and  stamped  upon  it  with  as  indelible  an  impression, 
and  proceeded  on  with  as  firm  and  habitual  a conviction  of 
its  truth  as  any  other  communication  of  God’s  word  that 
you  choose  to  condescend  upon.  That  truth,  the  faith  of 
which  gives  me  peace  and  joy,  is  just  believed  as  far  and 
no  farther  than  that  truth,  the  faith  of  which  impresses 
upon  me  the  necessity  of  a new  walk  and  an  upright  con- 
versation, and  which  sets  me  on  the  track  of  endeavor  and 
inquiry  how  to  obtain  them,  and  which  guides  me  to  the 
affecting  conclusion  that  without  Christ  I can  do  nothing, 
and  which  revives  my  departing  courage  by  the  assurance 
that  with  Christ  I can  do  all  things,  and  which  urges  me  on 
to  renew  my  prayers  at  the  throne  of  grace,  and  which 
leads  me  to  use  the  strength  I acquire  through  prayer  by 
putting  it  to  trial,  and  which  joins  in  one  close  and  insep- 
arable combination  the  habit  of  exertion  with  the  habit  of 
dependence,  and  which  at  length  establishes  me  in  the  very 
attitude  of  the  Apostle,  who  strove  mightily,  according  to 
the  grace  of  God  working  in  him  mightily. 

I come  back  upon  the  class  of  professing  Christians  who 
look  at  their  own  performances,  and  think  they  do  enough. 
I ask  them  if,  in  the  obedience  they  yield,  they  look  habitu- 
ally to  that  mighty  Agent  who  has  been  sent  forth  from 
heaven  as  the  Restorer  and  Sanctifier  of  a degenerate 
world  ? Do  they  act  on  the  strength  of  the  promised  as- 
sistance ? Do  they  watch  for  the  Spirit  with  all  persever- 
ance ? Paul  did  so ; and  he,  so  far  from  thinking  that  he 
had  already  attained,  or  was  already  perfect,  forgot  the 
things  which  were  behind,  and  reached  forth  unto  s& 


158 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


things  which  were  before,  pressing  toward  the  mark  for  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. — I come 
back  upon  the  class  of  professing  Christians  who  look  to 
themselves  and  are  not  satisfied.  It  is  right  for  them  not 
to  be  satisfied  with  their  performances ; but  it  is  not  right 
in  the  face  of  a promise  sealed  by  the  blood  of  Christ — 
in  the  face  of  a settled  provision  announced  to  you  as  form- 
ing part  of  His  redemption — it  is  not  right,  I say,  in  the 
face  of  such  encouragements  to  despair.  The  provision  to 
which  I allude  is  the  Spirit  to  help  your  infirmities.  It  is 
not  refused  to  those  who  ask  it.  It  will  be  given  you  by 
Him  who  hath  given  you  His  own  Son  as  the  pledge  and 
the  assurance  that  with  Him  He  will  freely  give  you  all 
things.  “ It  is  shed  on  us  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Saviour.”  I announce  it  as  a gift,  and  in  so  doing  I 
strip  a pretended  orthodoxy  of  all  its  plans  of  resistance  to 
that  doctrine  which  is  according  to  godliness ; I explain 
this  godliness  in  all  its  parts ; I preserve  this  sanctification 
in  all  its  branches ; I descend  to  all  the  minuteness  and  va- 
riety of  the  Apostolical  teaching ; I carry  forward  Christi- 
anity to  the  shop  and  the  family  and  the  market ; I apply 
it  to  your  hearts  and  your  homes  and  your  business.  This 
may,  to  the  taste  of  some,  give  too  secular  and  too  work- 
ing an  air  to  the  divine  life.  For  their  satisfaction  I am 
not  furnished  with  two  mouths — I can  not  say  two  things 
at  the  same  instant — I cannot,  within  the  compass  of  one 
breathing,  tell  both  the  duty  and  the  source  from  which 
you  desire  the  ability  to  thus  change  it.  Yet  both  must  be 
told,  and  if  they  stand  in  different  verses,  or  even  in  differ- 
ent chapters  of  the  same  Bible,  should  not  you  judge  with 
candor  and  hear  with  indulgence,  though  they  are  made  to 
stand  in  different  paragraphs  of  the  same  sermon,  or  differ- 
ent sermons  of  *the  same  minister  ? 

This  brings  me  to  another  part  of  my  text.  I have  been 
hitherto  employed  in  attempting  to  prove  that  the  privilege 
annexed  to  Christianity  is  a gift,  and  in  explaining  what 
the  gift  is,  I hasten  to  a close,  and  offer  little  in  the  way  of 
expansion  upon  a clause  so  obvious  in  itself  as — “Hadst 


THE  LIVING  WATER 


159 


thou  known  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink, 
thou  wouldst  have  asked  of  Him,  and  He  would  have  given 
thee.”  It  is  delightful  to  think  that  these  gracious  words 
which  fell  from  the  mouth  of  our  Saviour,  and  contain  an 
assurance  so  pregnant  with  satisfaction  and  hope  to  all 
who  believe  in  Him,  have  an  emphasis  in  themselves  which 
need  no  human  illustration  to  help  them.  It  is  delightful  to 
think  that  this  knowledge  which  the  woman  of  Samaria 
was  in  want  of  is  open  and  accessible  to  all  of  you.  I shall 
convey  to  you  that  knowledge  in  a single  sentence — Christ 
is  willing  and  He  is  able  to  help  you.  To  Him  all  power 
has  been  committed  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Without 
Him  you  can  do  nothing ; but  with  Him  you  have  a Being 
who,  subduing  all  the  powers  of  darkness  which  oppose  you 
in  this  lower  world,  and  commanding  all  the  influences  of 
heaven  to  rest  upon  you,  can  enable  you  to  do  all  things. 
Had  she  known,  she  would  have  asked — or,  in  other  words, 
we  do  not  ask  because  we  do  not  know.  With  what  a 
charm  and  what  an  emphasis  ought  this  to  fall  upon  the 
heart  of  the  melancholy  Christian.  He  is  here  told,  upon 
the  highest  of  all  authorities — upon  the  authority  of  our 
Saviour  Himself — that  the  despair  in  which  he  indulges  is 
founded  upon  ignorance  of  Him.  He  knows  not  how  ready 
— he  knows  not  how  able — he  knows  not  how  free — he 
knows  not  how  perfectly  willing — nay,  how  eager  and  how 
delighted  his  Saviour  is  to  receive  all  who  come  unto  Him 
— to  listen  to  their  complaints — to  heal  their  diseases — to 
supply  their  every  want,  and  administer  to  every  necessity. 
This  is  the  true  and  the  faithful  representation  of  Christ. 
Could  I give  you  a real  and  a living  impression  of  Him — 
could  I fix  in  your  hearts  the  image  of  Him  such  as  He  is — 
could  I bring  Him  before  you,  offering  and  inviting,  nay, 
beseeching  you  to  be  reconciled — could  all  this  be  done — 
(and  I pray  that  this  work  of  faith  may  be  wrought  in  you 
with  power) — then  the  melancholy  which  oppresses  your 
heart  and  keeps  it  dark  would  be  dissolved  in  an  instant — 
the  gospel  would  come  to  you  not  in  word  only,  but  in 
power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  much  assurance — 


160 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


and  the  object  for  which  Paul  labored  with  the  Galatians 
would  be  accomplished  in  you.  Christ  would  be  formed  in 
you,  and  He  would  be  made  unto  you  of  God,  wisdom,  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption. 

Before  concluding,  let  me  give  you  an  explanation  of  the 
term  living  water,  in  the  largest  and  most  comprehensive 
sense  which  belongs  to  it.  There  can  be  nothing  more 
firmly  depended  on  than  interpretation  of  Holy  Writ  upon 
the  subject — and  there  we  are  expressly  told  that  it  signifies 
the  Spirit  of  God  given  to  all  them  who  believe.  Now,  by 
the  way  in  which  I have  split  down  the  subject  into  par- 
ticulars, you  may  conceive  that  this  Spirit  is  not  given  at 
the  very  outset  of  a man’s  Christianity — that  on  the  strength 
of  his  own  understanding,  and  by  the  movements*of  his 
own  conscience,  he  travels  in  independent  progress  toward 
the  point  at  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is  ready  to  enter  him — 
that  there  must  be  a previous  conviction  of  sin,  and  a previ- 
ous knowledge  of  the  Saviour,  and  a previous  faith  in  Him, 
and  that  then  upon  men  in  this  state  of  preparation  the 
living  water  is  poured,  and  holiness  unto  everlasting  life  is 
the  blessed  effect  of  its  salutary  application.  Now  it  is  not 
to  be  denied  that  at  distinct  steps  of  the  career  of  a believer 
there  are  distinct  supplies  of  grace  and  of  spiritual  enlarge- 
ment conferred  upon  him — that  he  stands  on  higher  vantage 
ground  for  obtaining  what  he  seeks  when  he  can  do  it  with 
a strong  faith  in  the  appointed  Mediator — and  that  when 
this  faith  is  at  the  strongest,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  ready  to 
meet  it  with  His  largest  and  most  powerful  operation.  But, 
my  brethren,  you  are  not  to  suppose  that  this  answer  of 
His  to  the  believer’s  prayer  is  the  very  commencement  of 
His  influences  upon  the  soul.  The  truth  is  that  He  presides 
over  the  whole  progress  of  sentiment  and  conviction  by 
which  the  mind  is  possessed  by  the  principle  of  faith,  and 
the  mouth  is  conducted  to  the  prayer  of  faith.  He  convinces 
of  sin — He  communicates  knowledge  through  the  medium 
of  the  Bible.  He  gives  movement  and  direction  to  the  very 
first  step  in  the  process  of  conversion,  as  well  as  to  all  the 
successive  steps  of  the  process.  He  was  present  with  His 


THE  LIVING  WATER. 


161 


constraining  energy  at  the  time  when  conscience  laid  its 
check  upon  the  sinner — at  the  time  when  his  heart  smote 
him  for  his  misdoings — at  the  time  when  a serious  convic- 
tion of  the  need  of  repentance  visited  the  inner  chamber  of 
his  thoughts — at  the  time  when  a sense  of  guilt  and  of 
danger  began  to  urge  upon  him  the  necessity  of  flying  from 
the  frowning  destiny  that  was  before  him — at  the  time 
when  anticipation  filled  his  bosom  with  her  darkest  and 
most  appalling  images — at  the  time  when  the  voice  within 
would  not  let  him  alone,  and  the  terror  of  the  Lord,  like  an 
arrow  sticking  fast,  kept  by  him  throughout  all  his  move- 
ments, and  pursued  him  with  an  agonizing  sense  of  a pres- 
ent guilt  and  of  a coming  danger — at  the  time  when  his 
Saviour’s  name  fell  upon  his  ear  and  arrested  ids  attention, 
and  he  turned  his  languid  eye  upon  some  obscure  dawning 
of  the  Sun  of  righteousness — at  the  time  when  the  clouds 
passed  away  and  the  soul  emerged  from  all  its  perplexities, 
and  the  free  offer  of  acceptance  came  with  assurance  upon 
his  feelings,  and  the  persuading  power  and  kindness  of  the 
Saviour  charmed  the  darkness  and  the  tempest  away  from 
him,  and  behold  it  was  a calm — at  the  time  when  the  firm 
determination  entered  his  bosom  to  live  to  Him  who  thus 
had  translated  him  from  death  to  life,  and  the  holy  purpose 
was  carried  forward  to  accomplishment,  and  the  prayer 
for  a larger  supply  of  the  Spirit  of  all  grace  ascended  on 
the  wings  of  an  invigorated  faith,  and  brought  down  upon 
his  tranquilized  heart  an  abundant  shower  of  the  influences 
of  heaven. 


SERMON  II. 


[This  sermon  was  preached  at  Dairsie  Sacrament  on  June  13,  1813.  At 
Kilmany  Sacrament,  June  20,  1813.  At  Balmerino,  August  2,  1813.  At 
Monimail,  September  19,  1813.  At  Cupar,  June  4, 1815.  At  Kirkintulloch, 
August  7,  1815.  In  the  Tron  Church,  Glasgow,  June  9,  1816.] 

PHILIPPIANS  IV.  13. 

“ I can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me.” 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  following  discourse,  I shall  first 
point  your  attention  to  the  extent  of  duty,  or  to  the  multitude 
of  particulars  which  enter  into  the  “ all  things”  of  the  apos- 
tle. In  the  second  place,  I shall  prove  to  you  in  how  many 
of  these  things  we  offend.  And  in  the  third  place,  I shall 
attempt  to  rouse  you  from  the  dangerous  conclusion,  that 
because  this  disobedience  is  so  much  the  condition  of  frail 
and  corrupt  humanity,  it  must  just  be  acquiesced  in — a con- 
clusion which  I must  do  my  uttermost  to  resist,  because  I 
see  in  the  example  before  me  that  there  is  a revealed  instru- 
ment for  aiding  the  frailties  and  subduing  the  corruptions 
of  our  nature — even  the  strength  imparted  by  Christ — an 
instrument  so  powerful,  that  in  virtue  of  its  operation  Paul 
was  enabled  to  do  all  things — “ I can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  which  strengtheneth  me.” 

• I.  Duty,  though  simple  in  its  principles,  is  manifold  in  its 
applications.  There  is  not  one  thing  which  it  is  the  duty 
of  man  to  do,  that  could  not  be  traced  to  a clear  and  im- 
mediate dependence  upon  the  first  and  the  greatest  com- 
mandment— the  love  of  God  ; and  the  second,  which  is  the 
love  of  our  neighbor,  takes  in  a very  wide?  range  of  human 
obedience. 

Each  distinct  application  of  the  law  may  be  called  a 
distinct  duty,  and  there  are  writers  who  have  bewildered 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND  THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED.  163 


us  among  the  divisions  and  the  subdivisions  of  human  vir- 
tue. They  have  laid  hold  of  the  general  principle,  and 
made  it  to  travel  the  extensive  round  of  society  along  with 
them.  They  have  applied  it  to  a multitude  of  cases,  and 
brought  forward  a lengthened  catalogue  of  observances  for 
the  regulation  of  human  life.  Now,  it  is  very  true  that  to 
a certain  extent  our  Lord  and  His  apostles  did  the  same 
thing.  They  did  not  satisfy  themselves  with  announcing 
the  general  principles  of  duty — they  have  in  many  instan- 
ces given  us  the  case  and  the  application  ; but  they  have 
by  no  means  exhausted  this  part  of  the  subject.  They  have 
left  a thousand  possibilities  in  the  circumstances  of  man 
unnoticed,  and  the  only  way  in  which  they  have  provided 
for  them  is  by  bequeathing  the  general  rule,  and  leaving  it 
to  man  himself  to  make  the  applications.  Love,  says  Paul, 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  He  had  before  enumerated  a 
few  of  the  applications.  Under  the  influence  of  this  prin- 
ciple, a man  will  not  commit  adultery — he  will  not  kill,  he 
will  not  steal,  he  will  not  bear  false  witness,  he  will  not 
covet ; but,  fully  aware  that  he  had  not  exhausted  all  the 
applications,  he  ended  his  enumeration,  satisfied  with  leav- 
ing his  disciples  in  full  possession  of  the  general  principle, 
by  declaring  that  if  there  be  any  other  commandment,  it 
is  briefly  comprehended  in  this  saying,  namely,  “ Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.” 

It  must  be  obvious  to  you,  that  were  I to  attempt  an 
enumeration  of  the  “all  things”  which  belong  to  obedience, 
it  would  be  long,  and  very  long,  before  I could  accomplish 
it.  Love  to  God  involves  in  it  obedience  to  all  His  require- 
ments. Love  to  man  is  only  one  of  those  requirements, 
and  yet  it  involves  in  its  mighty  train  the  doing  of  all  that 
is  just  or  useful  to  our  brethren  of  the  species.  The  duties 
which  spring  from  these  copious  principles  of  human  con- 
duct are  like  the  host  which  no  man  can  number.  They 
meet  us  at  every  footstep  of  our  history — they  press  upon 
us  in  every  direction — they  accompany  us  in  every  relation 
of  life — they  demand  every  fragment  of  our  time — they 
move  along  the  whole  line  of  our  existence.  Nor  is  there 


IG4 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


a single  minute  in  which  they  leave  the  heart  of  man  to 
the  arbitrary  independence  of  its  movements — “ Whatso- 
ever you  do,  do  to  the  glory  of  God,”  is  a commandment 
which  there  is  no  escaping  from.  It  does  not  leave  us  to 
ourselves  for  a single  instant.  It  tells  us  that  there  is  no 
conceivable  situation  in  human  life  in  which  God  has  not 
a law  and  a duty  for  us — nor  a single  case  in  all  the  wide 
diversity  of  human  affairs  to  which  this  question  is  not  ap- 
plicable, “ What  is  the  will  of  God  in  the  matter  before  me  ?” 
You  may  be  well  convinced,  then,  of  the  multitude  of 
the  “ all  things”  which  it  is  your  duty  to  do,  though  I do 
not  bring  forward  a catalogue  of  all  the  varieties.  Let  the 
love  of  God  be  the  constant  principle,  and  obedience  to  God 
the  constant  expression  of  it,  and  there  cannot  a day  roll 
over  your  heads  without  carrying  a number  of  virtuous 
performances  along  with  it.  There  must  be  a constant 
surrender  of  self  to  the  interests  of  those  around  you — there 
must  be  a breathing  after  usefulness — there  must  be  integ- 
rity for  the  performance  of  what  is  just — there  must  be 
civility  for  the  performance  of  what  is  agreeable — there 
must  be  an  hourly  self-denial  in  the  work  of  doing  to  others 
what  you  would  be  done  by ; and  such  is  the  wideness  of 
this  obligation,  that  a single  human  being  can  scarcely  come 
within  your  reach  but  you  must  feel  a call  to  the  exercise. 
For  the  master  to  do  that  which  is  just  and  equal  to  his 
servant ; for  the  servant  to  be  faithful  to  his  work  while  the 
eye  of  his  employer  is  removed  from  him ; for  the  parent 
to  maintain  a constant  purity  of  example  in  the  sight  of  his 
children ; for  the  member  of  a company  to  carry  it  with 
kindness  and  humility,  and  to  give  up  his  own  will  and  his 
own  way  to  the  gratification  of  those  around  him ; and 
what,  perhaps,  is  a higher  achievement  than  any,  for  the 
member  of  a family  to  keep  down  the  irksomeness  of  his 
feeling,  and  suffer  not  a murmur  or  a frown  to  break  in 
upon  the  peacefulness  of  his  domestic  society:  these  are 
only  a few  out  of  the  many ; and  yet  they  demand  a vigi- 
lance which  must  never  be  remitted  ; a tone  and  a habit  of 
exertion  which  must  never  be  relaxed  ; a strictness  of  prm- 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


165 


ciple  which,  if  suffered  to  abate  for  a single  instant,  may 
throw  you  open  to  the  inroads  of  temptation,  and  lead  you 
to  deplore  in  sorrow  and  in  shame  the  impotency  of  all 
your  purposes. 

From  the  visible  conduct  let  me  carry  you  inward  to  the 
chambers  of  the  mind,  and  lay  before  you  the  mighty  work 
of  obedience  that  should  be  going  on  there.  Are  the  su- 
preme regards  of  your  heart  fastened  upon  God?  Is  His 
authority  felt  as  the  master  principle  to  which  all  the  move- 
ments of  the  inner  man  observe  a subordination  ? Do  you 
feel  His  friendship  to  be  enough  for  you  ? and  does  His 
assurance  that  all  shall  work  together  for  good  keep  your 
spirit  at  rest  from  the  anxieties  of  the  world  ? He  has  sent 
you  a written  message,  have  3rou  brought  every  thought  of 
your  heart  to  the  captivity  of  its  obedience  ? Do  you  sub- 
mit to  it  in  faith,  and  is  the  love  of  Christ,  the  author  and 
the  finisher  of  our  faith,  felt  in  its  constraining  influence 
upon  you  ? Is  conformity  to  His  image  the  main  object  of 
your  ambition?  and  in  devotion  to  the  Father — in  love  to 
every  brother  of  the  species — in  the  patient  endurance  of 
wrongs — in  meekness  and  gentleness  and  kindness  are  you 
aiming  at  a fair  and  faithful  resemblance  to  the  pattern  laid 
before  you  in  the  gospel,  struggling  not  only  to  walk  as  He 
walked,  but  to  have  the  same  mind  in  you  that  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus  ? 

II.  These  are  so  many  of  the  “ all  things and  I have 
put  them  into  the  form  of  questions  that  your  conscience, 
stimulated  to  an  answer,  may  go  along  with  me  in  the  sec- 
ond head  of  discourse ; and  sure  I am,  that  every  honest 
and  enlightened  conscience  will  spare  me  the  burden  of  a 
proof  wh(3n  I assert,  that  in  many,  and  in  very  many,  of 
these  things  we  offend.  In  some  of  these  things,  indeed, 
there  may  be  an  outward  conformity,  though  the  great 
principle  of  duty — the  will  of  God — has  no  influence  what- 
ever. A sense  of  honor  may  give  integrity  to  your  con- 
duct ; the  fear  of  disgrace  may  preserve  you  from  all  that 
is  counted  shameful  in  society ; an  instinctive  feeling  of 


166 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


generosity  may  lead  you  to  occasional  acts  of  beneficence 
the  mechanical  influence  of  habit  may  perpetuate  and  in- 
sure your  attendance  upon  the  ordinances  of  religion ; your 
admiration  of  what  is  tasteful  and  decorous  in  the  human 
character  may  lead  you  to  display  in  your  own  much  of  all 
that  is  amiable  and  engaging  ; but  all  this  might  have  been 
done  though  there  had  been  neither  a God  above  you  nor 
an  eternity  before  you  ; and  certain  it  is,  that  all  this  has 
been  done  where  there  was  no  feeling  of  the  one  and  no 
anticipation  of  the  other.  How  can  these  be  appealed  to  as 
proofs  of  obedience,  when  one  and  all  of  them  may  be  per- 
formed while  the  grand  principle  of  obedience  is  asleep  ; 
while  the  authority  of  the  Judge  is  unfelt,  and  the  fear  of 
the  judgment  seat  has  no  operation  ? Viewed  in  reference 
to  the  Lawgiver,  they  are  in  fact  so  many  acts  of  indiffer- 
ence ; nor  can  they  be  sustained  as  offerings  to  Him,  when 
in  the  doing  of  them  He  was  never  thought  of,  and  the 
obligation  of  His  law  was  never  adverted  to.  Yet,  upon 
this  deceitful  foundation  many  an  infatuated  soul  rests  its 
security ; and  many  who  pass  in  society  as  its  delight  and 
its  ornament,  who  are  hailed  as  the  favorites  of  every  com- 
pany, and  distinguished  by  the  greetings  of  the  market- 
place— who,  by  the  unblemished  propriety  of  their  man- 
ners, have  their  rank  assigned  to  them  among  the  good 
men  of  the  world,  will,  in  that  day  when  judgment  is  laid 
tp  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet,  be  found  to 
have  lived  without  God,  and  having  neglected  His  obe- 
dience in  time,  to  have  lost  His  favor  and  His  friendship 
through  eternity. 

“Whosoever,”  says  the  Apostle  James,  “shall  keep  the 
whole  law,  and  yet  offend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all.’' 
There  is  nothing  to  surprise  or  to  startle  us  in  this  asser- 
tion, if  we  only  advert  to  the  singleness  of  that  principle  on 
which  all  obedience  is  suspended — Respect  to  the  authority 
of  God.  It  is  no  evidence  of  respect  whatever,  if  you  just 
do  what  you  would  have  done  though  He  had  interposed 
with  no  authority  upon  the  subject.  He  hath  said,  “ Thou 
shall  not  kill but  if  your  own  instinctive  horror  at  the 


AND  THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


167 


atrocity  of  a murder  would  have  preserved  you  from  the 
breaking  of  this  commandment,  I cannot  say  that  in  this 
one  example  of  outward  conformity  I have  yet  detected 
the  essential  principles  of  obedience.  He  hath  said,  “Thou 
shalt  not  be  angry  at  thy  brother  without  a cause but  if 
the  constitutional  mildness  of  your  own  temper  keep  you 
from  this  transgression,  I have  not  yet  seen  any  decisive 
proof  of  respect  to  the  authority  of  the  Lawgiver.  He 
hath  said,  “ Thou  shalt  not  steal but  if  a sentiment  of 
honor,  aided  by  the  sufficiency  of  your  own  circumstances, 
keep  you  from  an  offense  so  mean  and  so  disgraceful,  for 
anything  I know,  the  heart,  in  reference  to  God,  may  still 
be  in  a state  of  the  most  entire  wickedness,  and  as  utterly 
devoid  of  submission  to  Him  as  if  He  did  not  exist,  or  as  if 
His  will  had  never  been  proclaimed  to  us.  I travel  the 
whole  round  of  human  duty,  and  I may  see  a thousand  ex- 
amples of  outward  conformity  which  are  decisive  of  noth- 
ing, because  to  do  what  you  would  have  done  at  any  rate, 
can  never  be  put  to  the  account  of  religious  principle. 
Give  me  a case  where  the  thing  commanded  is  at  war  with 
the  mighty  elements  of  taste  and  passion  and  interest,  and 
then  I will  fasten  my  attention  upon  it.  The  experiment 
will  be  a fair  one  ; and  if  I find  that  in  every  instance  the 
authority  of  God  carries  it  over  the  rebellious  inclinations 
of  the  heart,  then  I will  be  found  to  acknowledge  that  foe 
first  and  the  greatest  commandment  is  kept  in  all  its  extent 
and  in  all  its  entireness.  But  who  does  not  see  even  in  one 
single  instance  to  the  contrary,  that  the  great  principle  of 
obedience  is  trampled  upon,  God  is  deposed  from  His  su- 
premacy, something  else  has  been  more  loved  than  He, 
and  the  homage  which  He  exacts,  not  of  a part  of  the  heart 
but  of  all  the  heart,  has  been  withheld  from  Him  ? Many 
things  may  be  appealed  to ; but  if  all  things  are  not  done, 
then  the  Lawgiver  is  dethroned ; and  as  surely  as  one  act 
of  forgery  or  murder  brings  down  the  vengeance  of  the 
civil  law  upon  the  man  who  was  blameless  and  unoffend- 
ing to  the  very  moment  of  his  transgression,  so  surely  will 
many  whom  the  world  smiles  upon,  and  who  pass  among 


168 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


the  men  of  the  world  as  the  most  pure  and  amiable  of  the 
species,  when  brought  under  the  tribunal  of  that  mighty 
Being  “ with  whom  we  have  to  do,”  have  those  points  laid 
open  which  will  flash  upon  their  consciences  the  conviction 
of  guilt,  and  entail  upon  their  deluded  souls  an  entire  and 
everlasting  condemnation. 

Give  me  a man  under  the  influence  of  an  honest  desire 
after  conformity  to  the  love  of  God,  and  there  will  be  no 
willful  reservations  in  the  obedience  of  such  a man.  There 
t may  be  imperfection  in  the  whole  of  his  obedience,  but  this 
imperfection  does  not  proceed  from  any  deliberate  excep- 
tion of  this  one  or  that  other  of  the  divine  commandments. 
There  is  within  him  the  working  of  an  entire  principle — in 
virtue  of  which  he  is  in  good  earnest  after  the  doing  of  all 
the  commandments.  He  may  come  short  in  all  and  in  every 
one  of  them,  but  in  none  of  these  shortcomings  has  he  com- 
mitted that  in  which,  according  to  the  Apostle  John,  is  the 
sin  unto  death.  He  honestly  grieves  at  his  shortcomings 
— he  honestly  confesses  them,  and  obtains  an  interest  in  that 
justice  and  faithfulness  of  God  which  stand  pledged  to  for- 
give him  his  sins,  and  to  cleanse  him  from  all  his  unright- 
eousness. But  there  is  not  one  particular  of  this  unright- 
eousness which  he  does  not  most  sincerely  desire  to  obtain 
deliverence  from,  which  he  does  not  strive  with  all  his  pow- 
er to  make  head  against,  which  he  does  not  feel  a longing 
of  the  heart,  that  through  Christ  strengthening  him  he  may 
prevail  against,  which  he  does  not  make  the  object  of  his 
watchfulness  and  his  exertions  and  his  prayers;  and  be  as- 
sured that  there  is  not  an  honest  and  aspiring  Christian 
among  you  who  will  not,  in  virtue  of  this  general  desire  to 
be  released  from  all  sin,  and  to  shake  himself  loose  from  the 
service  of  every  other  master  but  Christ,  and  to  do  all  things 
in  His  name,  and  to  the  glory  of  His  father  who  is  in  heav- 
en— there  is  not  one  of  you  who  will  not  by  the  use  of  the 
gospel  expedients  of  faith  and  dependence  on  the  Spirit 
make  constant  progress  not  merely  in  one  or  in  any  given 
numbei  of  reformations,  but  constant  progress  in  all  refor- 
mation, and  be  perpetually  tending  to  the  high  eminency 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


169 


of  standing  perfect  and  complete  in  the  whole  will  of 
God 

Now  let  me  just  suppose  that  instead  of  this  general  and 
honest  desire  after  all  obedience  there  is  one  single  excep- 
tion in  which  the  man  gives  willful  and  deliberate  way  to 
his  own  passion  or  his  own  interest  or  his  own  vanity,  and 
that  with  the  striving  after  these  other  points  of  conformity 
there  is  one  point  in  which  he  acts  the  part  of  a determined 
and  presumptuous  offender.  Even  he  who  honestly  aspired 
after  obedience  in  all  points  fell  into  sin ; but  as  I said  just 
now,  such  sin  as  was  perpetually  decaying  in  its  power  and 
ascendency  over  him — such  sin  as  found  its  forgiveness  in 
the  blood  of  Christ  through  prayer — such  sin  as  might  oc- 
casionally break  forth  into  that  warfare  between  the  flesh 
and  the  spirit  which  takes  place  in  the  bosom  of  every  be- 
liever— but  such  sin  as  is  ever  waning  away  into  a feeble 
and  more  expiring,  remainder,  and  which  at  length,  utterly 
extinguished,  will  present  the  man  who  has  fought  this  good 
fight,  and  has  kept  the  faith,  and  has  finished  his  course — 
will  present  him  holy  and  unblamable  and  unreprovable  be- 
fore God.  But  this,  my  brethren,  will  never,  never  be  the 
result  in  the  case  of  him  who,  with  the  consent  of  his  will, 
makes  one  habitual  exception  to  the  great  maxim  of  entire 
and  universal  obedience.  The  flaw  which  corrupt  nature 
introduces  into  the  obedience  of  the  man  who  is  making 
head  against  all  corruption  is  one  thing — the  flaw  in  the  obe- 
dience of  him  who  willfully  gives  way  to  any  one  form  of 
corruption  is  another.  The  former  flaw  is  ever  getting 
fainter,  and  will  at  length  disappear — the  latter  flaw  car- 
ries in  it  all  the  virulence,  and  brings  down  upon  it  all  the 
condemnation  of  the  sin  unto  death.  What  is  the  reason 
why  a sinner  of  the  latter  description  yields  an  obedience 
in  other  things,  and  refuses  his  obedience  in  this  one  thing? 
The  doing  of  the  other  things  falls  in  with  his  taste  and  con- 
stitution and  circumstances.  It  lays  him  under  no  heavy 
or  painful  sacrifice.  He  may  be  constitutionally  of  a gentle 
and  peaceful  disposition,  and  he  transgresses  not  the  precept 
of  not  being  soon  angry.  He  may  have  a positive  aver- 
VOL.  VI. H 


170 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


sion  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  you  may  never 
be  able  to  detect  him  in  the  transgression  of  the  precept — 
“Be  not  drunk  with  the  drunken.”  He  may  have  a high 
sentiment  of  natural  integrity  hidden  within  him,  and  in  turn- 
ing defiance  to  every  one  temptation  of  dishonesty  he  may 
yield  a conformity  to  the  maxim  of  doing  as  he  would  be 
done  by.  But  give  me  one  case,  and  I will  ask  no  more, 
where  the  authority  of  God  comes  into  collision  with  a 
something  thafr  his  heart  is  set  upon — a something  to  which 
he  is  driven  with  the  whole  violence  of  his  desires — a some- 
thing which  he  knows  to  be  against  the  will  of  God  ; when 
in  the  face  of  that  knowledge  he  acts  the  willful  and  delib- 
erate transgressor,  then,  I say,  that  all  his  other  obedience 
is  no  such  proof  of  his  regard  to  the  authority  of  God  as  his 
disobedience  in  this  one  thing  is  a proof  of  his  utter  disre- 
gard to  that  authority — I say  that  this  disobedience  demon- 
strates that  there  is  festering  within  him  a great  and  a rad- 
ical principle  of  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  his  right- 
ful Lawgiver — that  the  visible  conformities,  though  most 
correctly  and  punctually  done,  are  not  done  unto  God  ; they 
are  done  from  some  other  cause  than  the  right  principle  of 
submission  to  Him,  because  when  this  principle  was  brought 
to  its  fair  trial — when  called  out  to  combat  it  with  the  ur- 
gency of  a besetting  temptation,  it  was  found  wanting ; and 
being  a habitual  offender  in  this  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all. 
because  he  evinces  within  him  such  a preference  of  his  own 
desire  to  God’s  will,  as  gives  all  its  provocation  to  sin,  all 
its  deformity  to  disobedience. 

To  think  otherwise,  my  brethren,  would  be  doing  less  jus- 
tice to  God  than  you  do  to  an  earthly  legislator.  Those 
unhappy  men  who  lie  under  sentence  of  death  have  become 
amenable  to  that  sentence  upon  one  specific  act  of  disobedi- 
ence to  the  laws  of  their  country.*  They  have  not  been 
guilty  of  murder,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  had  still 

* This  paragraph,  and  the  two  immediately  succeeding  ones,  were  added 
to  the  original  sermon  written  in  Kilmany,  when  it  was  preached  in  Glasgow 
At  the  time  of  its  delivery  in  the  Tron  Church,  two  men  were  lying  undei 
sentence  of  death  for  theft. 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


17/ 


enough  of  instinctive  horror  at  such  an  atrocity  as  to  have 
recoiled  from  this  deed  of  violence.  They  have  not  beer 
guilty  of  forgery,  and  I know  not  whether  it  was  the  warn 
of  opportunity,  or  the  fear  of  detection,  or  some  remaindei 
of  dislike  to  such  an  outrageous  violation  of  truth,  that  kept 
them  from  this  transgression.  The  one  crime  of  which  the\ 
have  been  guilty  is  theft,  and  for  this  one  crime  they  are  li- 
able to  as  fearful  an  execution  as  if  there  lay  upon  them  the 
guilt  of  innumerable  violations.  This  one  crime  is  com 
pletely  decisive  of  the  general  defect  in  the  moral  constitu 
tion  that  belongs  to  them — it  is  completely  decisive  of  theii 
wanting  the  principle  of  allegiance  to  the  civil  authority. 
Had  this  principle  been  within  them,  they  would  not  have 
stolen,  and  the  single  act  of  stealing  demonstrates  their  ut- 
ter want  of  this  principle.  And  in  the  same  manner  with 
the  principle  of  allegiance  to  the  authority  of  God  within 
you,  this  principle  would  struggle  against  all  that  was  con- 
trary to  the  will  of  God.  It  might  be  long,  and  very  long, 
before  it  carried  you  the  length  of  a sinless  conformity  to 
the  whole  of  His  commandments,  but  sure  I am  that  not  one 
of  the  commandments  would  be  willfully  and  habitually  tram- 
pled upon ; and  give  me  a man  who  has  set  up  the  fear  of 
God  in  his  heart,  and  I shall  see  that  man  walking  the  whole 
round  of  visible  obedience,  contesting  it  against  sin  in  all  its 
forms  and  in  all  its  modes,  and  struggling,  honestly  strug- 
gling to  yield  himself  to  every  one  of  the  requirements,  and 
to  conform  himself  to  the  whole  will  of  God. 

I trust  that  what  I have  said  may  serve  to  undeceive  the 
consciences  of  those  who  are  building  the  hope  of  a future 
security  on  a partial  obedience — who  are  cherishing  some 
allowed  reservation — who  are  prosecuting  some  unhallowed 
walk  of  indulgence  which  they  have  not  yet  had  the  forti- 
tude to  abandon — who  think  that  they  will  eke  out  for  them- 
selves a place  in  heaven,  because  along  with  some  suffered 
habit  of  licentiousness  they  have  integrity,  or  they  have 
good-nature,  or  they  have  a feeling  heart,  or  they  do  an  oc- 
casional act  of  generosity,  or  they  are  attentive  to  parents, 
or  they  take  a share  in  the  ordinances  of  religion.  This  is 


172 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


one  very  important  application  of  the  above  principle  ; but 
there  is  one  other  which  I cannot  forbear,  as  it  touches  on 
a subject  to  which  I from  time  to  time  have  occasionally 
referred,  and  which  if  ever  I take  it  up  in  a separate  and 
systematic  form  will,  I am  sure,  require  the  deliberate  exer- 
tion of  a good  many  weeks  ere  I unfold  it  in  all  its  bearings, 
or  do  justice  to  the  vast  importance  which  belongs  to  it.  If 
these  principles  be  true,  how  fearful  is  the  extent  of  destruc- 
tion that  is  brought  upon  the  human  race  by  the  rude,  care- 
less, unfeeling,  and  unreflecting  way  in  which  the  young  of 
a great  city  are  introduced  into  the  vices  of  dissipation  ! 
They  may  only  be  initiated  into  one  act  of  disobedience, 
and  along  with  this  they  may  retain  youthful  sincerity, 
youthful  tenderness  of  heart,  all  the  impulses  of  a youth- 
ful generosity,  and  all  the  repugnance  of  a high  and  honor- 
able indignation  at  what  is  sordid  and  avaricious,  or  mean 
and  paltry  in  the  concealments  of  dishonesty.  And  yet,  my 
brethren,  be  this  as  it  may,  they  by  their  one  act  of  disobe- 
dience have  thrown  the  gauntlet  of  defiance  to  the  authority 
of  God — they  have  entered  on  that  course  which  goeth 
down  to  the  chambers  of  death.  They  have  dispossessed 
from  their  hearts  the  principle  of  allegiance  to  the  Lawgiver 
who  speaketh  to  them  from  heaven  ; they  do  that  for  the 
sake  of  which  the  wrath  of  God  cometh  on  the  children  of 
disobedience ; they  have  indeed  made  a woeful  transition, 
and  yet  wretched  to  think,  it  is  a transition  made  by  thou- 
sands every  year — it  is  a transition  which  parents  sleep  over 
— a transition  which  is  connived  at  and  smiled  upon  by  gen- 
eral society — a transition  to  which  the  helpless  young  are 
cheered  and  encouraged  by  their  hardier  and  more  profli- 
gate acquaintances — a transition  traveled  by  so  fearful  a 
majority  of  human  souls,  that  a Christian  parent  shudders 
as  much  at  the  thought  of  committing  his  children  to  the 
walks  of  business  as  he  would  do  at  committing  them  to  all 
the  dangers  of  a fearful  and  unknown  wilderness.  Oh,  my 
brethren,  this  is  an  extremely  painful  contemplation,  and  I 
should  like  to  be  relieved  from  it — and  the  way  of  rearing 
around  me  a spectacle  on  which  the  moral  eye  might  rest 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


173 


with  more  complacency  than  it  ever  can  do  on  this  dark 
scene  of  ruined  principle  that  is  on  every  side  of  me,  would 
be  for  parents  to  stir  themselves  to  a little  more  vigilance 
than  they  have  ever  yet  exercised,  and  for  the  masters  of 
populous  establishments  to  take  upon  themselves  some  re- 
sponsibility in  the  way  of  advice  and  of  guardianship,  and 
for  private  individuals  among  you  to  betake  yourselves  to 
the  angelic  office  of  doing  all  that  in  you  lies  to  aid  the 
struggles  of  human  virtue  when  like  to  be  overborne  by  the 
tide  of  ridicule  and  of  example,  and  for  all  of  you  who  have 
a desire  for  reformation  to  cherish  a more  intrepid  and  de- 
clared spirit  upon  the  subject  than  you  have  ever  yet  done, 
so  as  to  make  determined  head  against  the  tyranny  of  cus- 
tom, and  to  keep  yourselves  and  others  out  of  the  way  of 
every  temptation,  and  to  shun  every  assembly  of  the  light 
and  the  scornful,  and  manfully  to  resist  all  that  is  corrupt- 
ing in  the  conformities  of  fashion  and  of  the  world,  and  to 
take  your  own  independent  way,  and  spread  the  sanction 
of  your  example  over  others  who  do  the  same  when  you 
break  off  from  every  combination,  and  refuse  every  meet- 
ing, and  retire  from  every  society,  where,  in  the  spirit  of  a 
wild  and  convivial  licentiousness,  all  the  decencies  of  life 
are  exploded,  and  all  the  delicacies  of  a yet  unvitiated 
youth  are  subjected  to  a most  barbarous  and  unfeeling 
violation. 

This  is  but  a rapid  sketch  of  that  work  of  extensive  mis- 
chief that  week  after  week  is  gaining  proselytes  to  the  king- 
dom of  Satan,  and  making  them  tenfold  more  the  children 
of  hell  than  before.  At  present  I shall  prosecute  it  no  fur- 
ther, and  shall  conclude  with  one  sentence  to  a class  of 
hearers  over  whom  I could  pour  all  the  tenderness  of  a mind 
that  would  do  anything  to  perpetuate  the  bloom  of  their  in- 
nocence here  and  preserve  them  entire  for  the  pure  joys  of 
a happy  eternity  hereafter.  Are  you  hesitating  under  the 
influence  of  vicious  and  corrupting  exposure? — Then  know 
that  the  question  is  not,  Shall  I do  this  wicked  thing,  and 
retaining  all  the  other  virtues  of  my  character,  just  put  my- 
self in  a less  likely  situation  for  heaven  than  before  ? Un- 


17{ 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


dei  tand  the  principle  I have  been  laboring  to  impress  about 
the  whole  magnitude  of  the  ruin  that  a deliberate  habit  of 
trai  agression  against  one  point  and  particular  of  the  divine 
law  brings  along  with  it;  and  then  you  will  perceive  that 
the  question  will  be,  Shall  I do  this  wicked  thing,  and  put 
the  whole  happiness  of  my  eternity  away  from  me?  Feel 
the  whole  interest  of  your  imperishable  being  to  be  involved 
in  the  step  on  which  you  are  hesitating.  Bring  the  whole 
extent  of  your  religious  principles  to  bear  upon  the  question, 
and  know,  most  assuredly  know,  that  however  much  the 
vicey  of  dissipation  may  be  tolerated  and  connived  at  by 
society  at  large,  it  is  true  of  every  one  of  these  vices,  as  it 
is  true  of  every  other,  that  a willful  indulgence  is  a gulf 
between  you  aftd  God,  and  a barrier  in  the  way  of  your 
salvation.  May  every  call  you  have  heard  to  immediate 
repentance  lend  its  impression  to  your  hearts.  Think  of 
the  progressive  tyranny  of  habit ; think  of  the  progressive 
hardening  of  the  mind  against  all  moral  and  religious  con- 
siderations ; think  that  the  voice  of  conscience  decays  and 
at  last  dies  out  into  a final  departure  away  from  you ; think 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  grieved  by  your  every  act  of  resist- 
ance ; and  do,  my  young  friends,  choose  the  better  part, 
and  let  every  manly  principle  of  high  and  honorable  reso- 
lution be  summoned  up  to  the  exercise ; and  when  sinners 
entice,  consent  not,  and  defy  all  their  ridicule,  and  spurn  all 
their  allurements,  and  be  alarmed  not  merely  at  vice,  but 
at  every  one  step  which  facilitates  and  prepares  for  it ; and 
be  assured  that  the  more  singular  you  make  yourself,  the 
more  formidable  the  combination  of  censure  and  contempt 
you  raise  up  against  you — and  the  more  unsupported  by 
the  example  and  countenance  of  others,  if  it  be  in  the  good 
cause  of  obedience,  you  throw  a higher  moral  sublimity 
over  the  whole  of  your  intrepid  and  respectable  career ; 
and  the  noble  consistency  of  your  doings  will  in  time  win 
from  every  acquaintance  you  have  the  fullness  of  admira- 
tion, and  you  may  at  length  become  the  honored  instrument 
in  the  hand  of  God  of  breaking  up  the  combinations  of 
iniquity,  and  throwing  the  shield  of  a commanding  example 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


175 


over  the  young  who  may  come  after  you  in  your  ware- 
houses and  in  your  offices  of  employment. 

To  “ do  all  things”  is  the  only  effectual  test  of  obedience. 
I go  round  with  this  test  among  the  various  classes  and 
characters  of  men,  and  I see  a woeful  deficiency  on  every 
side  of  me.  I first  go  to  them  to  whom  the  preaching  of 
the  cross  is  foolishness,  and  who,  resting  on  the  humble 
standard  of  their  own  virtues,  put  away  from  them  the  of- 
fered atonement  of  the  gospel.  Hard  but  important  task 
to  bring  these  people  under  the  humbling  conviction  of  sin, 
and  through  the  flimsy  disguise  of  mere  civil  accomplish- 
ment, to  give  them  a view  of  the  heart  in  all  its  wickedness 
and  deformity  ! I would  say  that  it  consisted  in  a total 
alienation  of  the  heart  from  God.  They,  indeed,  who  are 
far  off  from  God,  are  made  nigh  only  by  the  blood  of 
Christ ; and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  those 
who  despise  its  cleansing  and  its  peace-speaking  power 
should  put  God  so  far,  and  so  very  far  away  from  them. 
He  is  not  in  all  their  thoughts ; and  when  they  bring  their 
deceitful  assemblage  of  virtues  before  me,  I ask  of  their  love 
to  Him,  without  whom  virtue  is  nothing  better  than  the  fic- 
tion of  a name.  I ask  them  if  His  authority  be  deeply  felt 
and  faithfully  proceeded  upon — if  His  ordinances  be  their 
delight,  and  if  His  Bible  be  their  directory — if  His  appro- 
bation be  enough  for  them,  when  the  approbation  of  men  is 
withdrawn  ; and  without  pressing  them  too  hard  upon  the 
truth  of  their  pretensions  that  they  do  justly  and  love  mercy, 
I leave  it  to  their  consciences  to  tell,  whether  they  walk 
humbly  with  their  God  ? 

I go  to  another  set,  to  whom  the  preaching  of  the  cross 
is  not  foolishness ; who  name  the  name  of  the  Saviour  and 
love  His  sacraments ; whose  thoughts  are  more  upon  God, 
and  whose  eye  and  whose  prayers  are  often  lifted  to  the 
place  where  His  honor  dwelleth.  To  them  I apply  the 
test  of  “doing  all  things and  I count  it  the  most  grievous 
offense  which  the  honor  of  Christianity  has  to  sustain,  that 
some  of  its  ostentatious  disciples  confine  their  piety  to  the 
Sabbath  and  to  the  ordinances,  and  banish  God  from  the 


176 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


week-day  employment  of  ordinary  business.  Whence  that 
disgusting  censoriousness  which  spreads  the  tincture  of  gall 
over  so  many  a religious  conversation?  Whence  that  low 
tone  of  honesty  and  truth,  which  among  the  humbler  ranks 
of  society  is  so  often  found  to  accompany  the  uniform  ap- 
pearance, and  I believe  too  the  occasional  reality,  of  zeal 
in  matters  o£  religion  ? Whence,  in  fact,  that  separation 
of  religious  from  social  duty  we  so  often  meet  with,  not 
merely  in  their  conception,  but  in  their  example  and  prac- 
tice ? Whence  the  feeling,  that  when  a minister  lectures 
you  upon  fidelity  to  masters,  upon  civility  and  good  neigh- 
borhood to  those  around  you,  upon  the  payment  of  your 
debts,  upon  the  making  up  of  your  differences,  upon  the 
thousand  duties  which  meet  you  every  hour,  and  urge  you 
at  every  step  in  the  progress  of  your  history,  to  something 
agreeable  to  the  will  of  God  and  the  example  of  the  Saviour 
— whence,  I say,  the  feeling  which  exists  among  you  that 
all  this  is  very  odd  and  very  unsuitable  to  the  pulpit,  and 
particularly  so  at  a time  when  every  heart  should  be  turned 
to  the  love  of  Christ,  and  every  eye  should  be  melting  over 
the  appointed  memorial  of  His  atonement  ? Alas  ! against 
them,  too,  we  can  prefer  the  charge  of  not  “ doing  all 
things,”  and  we  can  substantiate  it.  With  the  mark  of 
godliness  upon  their  forehead,  their  conduct  for  the  great 
majority  of  their  time  says,  “We  will  not  have  God  to  rule 
over  us.”  He  is  only  their  occasional  God.  The  easy 
offering  of  their  prayers  in  the  family,  or  of  their  attend- 
ance in  the  church  and  at  the  table,  is  ever  in  readiness. 
But  the  living  sacrifice  of  the  whole  body,  soul,  and  spirit, 
is  withheld  from  Him.  He  is  deposed  from  his  right  and 
sovereignty  over  every  minute  of  their  existence ; and  in- 
stead of  His  law  reaching  to  all  their  concerns,  and  bring- 
ing the  whole  man  under  its  obedience,  we  see  that  in  the 
vast  majority  of  their  doings  they  cast  Him  off,  and  are  as 
much  the  slaves  of  their  own  temper,  and  inclination,  and 
interest,  as  if  God  had  not  a will  for  them  at  all  times  to 
obey,  and  as  if  Christ  had  never  set  an  example  before 
them  to  study  and  to  imitate. 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


177 


Hold,  ye  hypocrites  ! who  talk  of  this  as  the  season  that 
is  given  to  the  love  of  Christ,  and  to  the  memorial  of  His 
atonement ! Did  not  Christ  order  away  a disciple  from  His 
altar  ? — and  upon  what  errand  ? Upon  what  you,  it  seems, 
would  call  the  very  worldly  and  unsuitable  employment  of 
making  up  a quarrel  with  a neighbor.  Did  not  Christ  say, 
“If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments?”  and  yet  the 
minister  who  expounds  these  commandments,  and  presses 
their  observance  upon  you,  is  looked  upon  as  preaching 
another  gospel  than  what  He  left  behind  Him.  Oh ! when 
will  men  cease  to  put  asunder  what  God  hath  joined  ; and, 
taking  their  lesson  from  the  Bible  as  little  children,  submit 
to  it  without  a murmur  in  all  its  parts  and  in  all  its  varieties? 

But  let  the  minister  of  God  be  gentle  with  all  men,  and 
humble  under  the  feeling  of  his  own  infirmities.  Let  him, 
however  zealous  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  learn  that 
there  is  nothing  in  the  purity  of  his  own  practice  to  justify 
a tone  of  indignant  superiority  to  others.  It  is  easy  to  see 
and  to  approve  that  which  is  excellent ; but  how  shall  he 
compass  the  doing  of  it  ? It  is  easy  to  expatiate  on  the 
frailties  and  the  delusions  of  men ; but  how  shall  he  man- 
age for  himself,  when  told  by  his  own  melancholy  experi- 
ence that  he  shares  in  them  ? It  is  easy  to  acknowledge 
the  right  and  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  all  things,  and  to 
press  his  earnest  assurances  upon  you,  that  you  are  wrong, 
If  you  suffer  not  the  word  of  exhortation  urging  you  to  the 
daily  walk  and  duties  of  the  Christian ; but  to  what  refuge 
can  he  fly,  when  he  finds  that  he  himself  is  a defaulter,  and 
that  after  having  warmed  his  heart  at  the  inconsistency  of 
others,  and  penned  his  sentences  against  it,  he  mingles  in 
the  business  of  his  work  and  his  family,  and  forgetting  that 
the  eye  of  his  God  follows  him  there,  falls  a helpless  victim 
to  the  imbecilities  of  our  ruined  nature  ? 

I make  it  a common  question  with  you,  my  brethren, 
“ What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  from  this  sore  calamity  ?” 
Did  not  Christ  come  to  do  something  more  than  blot  out 
the  sentence  of  sin  from  the  book  of  judgment  ? Did  not 
He  come  to  extirpate  the  influence  of  sin  from  the  believ 

H* 


178 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


er’s  heart  ? And  unless  we  make  war  against  it  in  every 
quarter,  aD.d  aspire  to  a conformity  with  the  will  of  God  in 
all  things,  how,  in  the  name  of  truth  and  of  Scripture,  can 
the  salvation  of  Christ  be  taking  effect  upon  us  ? 

III.  This  leads  me  to  the  third  head  of  discourse — Sin  is 
not  to  be  acquiesced  in.  You  are  not  to  say,  “Corruption 
is  so  much  the  lot  of  humanity,  that  we  must  just  be  doing 
with  it.”  This,  I fear,  is  often  said  in  the  heart,  and  often 
proceeded  upon  in  the  conduct.  Every  new  sin  as  it  is 
contracted  is  regularly  laid  over  upon  Christ.  It  perhaps 
furnishes  a new  topic  of  humility ; but  then  another  oppor* 
tunity  comes  round,  and  the  sin  is  again  indulged  in  with- 
out a struggle.  The  answer  which  Paul  gave  to  the  ques- 
tion, “Shall  we  sin  then  that  grace  may  abound?”. was  a 
prompt  and  decisive  one — “ God  forbid  !”  But  the  answer 
which  these  people  give  in  practice  is,  that  it  is  all  very 
fair.  The  use  which  they  make  of  Christ’s  redemption  is 
to  make  Him  the  minister  of  sin ; and  wTillful  transgression, 
on  the  one  hand,  with  some  unmeaning  parade  of  repent- 
ance on  the  other,  makes  up  the  wretched  history  of  many 
a deluded  man,  whose  obedience  is  nothing  more  than  a 
round  of  positive  observances,  and  whose  orthodoxy  is 
nothing  more  than  a speculation  and  a name. 

Oh  ! when  shall  we  make  you  understand,  my  brethren, 
that  the  salvation  of  the  gospel  is  salvation  from  the  power 
of  sin  as  well  as  from  its  punishment ; and  that  the  grace 
of  God  which  bringeth  that  salvation,  not  only  carries  in  it 
forgiveness  to  all  the  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts  we  have 
been  guilty  of  in  time  past,  but  teaches  us  to  deny  them  in 
time  future,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in 
the  present  evil  world  ? Do  not  confine  the  mercy  of  God 
to  the  mere  exercise  of  forgiveness ; acknowledge  and  go 
along  with  it  in  all  its  varied  exercises.  And  we  read  that 
the  very  way  in  which  that  mercy  hath  saved  us  is  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  You  may  rest  assured  that  unless  the  fruit  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  be  seen  in  the  newness  of  your  lives,  and  un- 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


179 


less  the  deeds  of  the  old  man,  being  done  away,  shall  give 
place  to  the  regenerate  and  the  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus,  you  have  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  matter — you,  as  yet, 
form  no  part  of  God’s  workmanship  or  God’s  husbandry — 
you  have  none  of  that  union  with  Christ  which  the  fruitful 
branch  has  with  the  vine — you  may  name  the  name  of 
Christ,  but,  spiritually  and  substantially  speaking,  you  are 
not  united  with  Him.  All  who  are  so  united,  not  only 
name  His  name,  but  they  depart  from  iniquity,  and  prove 
by  their  new  obedience  to  Christ  in  all  things,  that  the  way 
of  salvation  is  that  high  way  which  shall  be  called  the  way 
of  holiness. 

The  whole  explanation  of  the  matter  is  to  be  found  in 
Christ.  He  who  is  revealed  as  our  Righteousness  and 
Redemption  is  our  Sanctification  also.  He  who  is  titled 
our  Saviour  is  also  titled  our  Sanctifier.  He  to  whom  all 
power  is  committed  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  can  make 
a portion  of  that  power  to  rest  upon  us.  He  who  knoweth 
what  is  in  man  can,  out  of  the  gifts  which  He  hath  pur- 
chased by  His  obedience,  make  a right  and  a suitable  ap- 
plication of  them  to  man — can  give  wisdom  where  before 
there  was  ignorance  and  folly — can  give  strength  where 
before  there  was  weakness — can  give  love  where  before 
there  was  hatred  and  alienation — can  give  charity  where 
before  there  was  selfishness — can  give  forbearance  where 
before  there  was  malice  and  revenge — in  a word,  can  give 
you  to  receive  out  of  His  fullness,  and  for  the  grace  of  His 
own  pure  and  perfect  example,  can  give  you  the  same,  so 
as  to  make  you  walk  even  as  He  walked,  and  to  change 
you  into  His  image  from  one  degree  of  excellence  to  an- 
other, even  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

Thus  shall  I judge  of*  your  worthy  participation  in  this 
sacrament.  It  is  a new  approach  to  Christ ; and  if  it  be 
something  more  than  the  mere  bodily  exercise  which  prof- 
iteth  little — if  it  be  an  approach  to  Him  in  faith  as  well  as 
in  appearance,  then  the  effects  of  such  an  approach  to  the 
Saviour  will  be  a closer  union  with  Him ; and  as  surely  as 
the  root  sends  up  support  and  nourishment  to  the  branch- 


180 


THE  DUTY  REQUIRED  AND 


es,  so  surely  will  the  fruit  of  union  to  the  Saviour  be  a 
firmer  adherence  to  His  law,  and  a purer  obedience  to 
Him  in  all  things.  The  Spirit,  which  is  at  His  giving,  is 
shed  forth  on  all  who  believe.  Faithful  is  He  who  has 
promised  it,  and  He  also  will  do  it.  The  same  believing 
dependence  on  Christ  by  which  you  obtain  His  body  to 
bear  the  burden  of  your  offenses,  and  His  blood  to  wash 
away  the  guilt  of  them,  will  also  obtain  for  you  His  Spirit 
to  dwell  in  your  hearts,  to  cleanse  you  from  all  unright- 
eousness, to  strengthen  them  with  all  might,  and  to  fill 
them  with  that  love  of  Christ  which  will  constrain  to  all 
obedience. 

Go  not  to  think,  my  brethren,  that  this  is  some  high, 
mystical  doctrine,  admitting  of  no  application  to  the  life 
and  the  circumstances  of  men.  Can  anything  be  more  easy 
to  understand  than  the  conduct  of  Paul  when  beset  with 
a sore  temptation  ? Did  he  give  way  to  it,  under  the  over- 
powering sense  of  human  weakness  ? No  ! he  made  use  of 
the  revealed  expedient  for  making  head  against  the  tempta- 
tion. That  expedient  was  prayer ; and  the  promise  made 
to  a believing  prayer  was  realized  upon  him : he  besought 
the  Lord,  and  the  grace  of  the  Lord  was  made  sufficient 
for  him,  and  his  strength  was  made  perfect  in  weakness. 
Why,  my  brethren,  will  you  affect  to  misunderstand  me 
when  I say,  “ Go,  and  do  thou  likewise  ?”  When  you  rise 
from  that  table,  and  go  to  your  homes  and  to  your  busi- 
ness, why  may  you  not  carry  the  imitation  of  the  apostle 
along  with  you ? At  all  times  and  in  all  places  may  it  not 
be  the  prayer  of  your  heart — •“  Support  me,  O God,  in  the 
matter  that  is  now  before  me?”  When  you  are  in  the 
midst  of  your  family,  and  might  be  doing  good  to  them  by 
your  conversation  or  example,  may  it  not  be  the  prayer  of 
your  heart — “ O God,  direct  me  in  this  ?”  When  you  are 
going  to  make  a bargain,  and  a convenient  falsehood  may 
bring  you  in  a little  more  of  the  meat  that  perisheth — “ O 
God,  preserve  me  from  this  temptation  ?”  When  you  are 
going  to  have  a reckoning  with  the  neighbor  who  has  im- 
posed, or  the  servant  who  has  disobeyed  you — “O  God, 


THE  STRENGTH  IMPARTED. 


18' 


give  me  to  rebuke  with  the  meekness  of  wisdom  ; and  if  he 
repents,  enable  me  to  forgive  him,  even  as  Thou  for  Christ’s 
sake  hast  forgiven  me  ?”  When  invited  to  a feast — “O  God, 
may  I watch  every  opportunity  of  ministering  that  which 
may  be  to  the  use  of  edifying,  and  may  I refrain  my  tongue 
from  speaking  evil  ?”  When  working  for  your  master  in 
the  field — “O  God,  enable  me  to  serve  him  as  diligantly 
as  if  his  eye  were  upon  me,  and  may  I serve  him  from  the 
heart,  as  unto  the  Lord  ?”  When  working  for  your  mistress 
in  the  family — “O  God,  keep  me  from  purloining  that  which 
is  not  my  own,  and  by  showing  all  good  fidelity,  may  I 
adorn  the  doctrine  of  our  Saviour  in  all  things?”  This 
would  be  to  fulfill  the  injunction  of  the  apostle,  to  “ pray 
without  ceasing;”  this  would  be  to  watch  for  the  Spirit 
with  all  perseverance ; this  would  be  to  do  all  things  to  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  name  of  Jesus ; this  would  be  to  make 
something  more  of  the  sacraments  than  a mockery  and  a 
farce ; — and  I call  upon  you,  my  brethren,  to  prove  that, 
in  receiving  these  elements,  you  have  received  Christ;  for 
if  you  have  received  Him  in  truth  you  will  receive  Him 
in  love,  and  if  you  have  received  Him  in  love,  you  will 
yield  to  Him  in  obedience. 


SERMON  III. 


[Preached  at  Cupar  on  a Sacramental  Fast,  30th  June,  1813.  In  the  Col- 
lege Chapel,  Glasgow,  14th  April,  1816.] 

i 

ROMANS  III.  10. 

“ As  it  is  written,  There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one.” 

The  term  beauty  was  originally  restricted  to  objects  of 
sight.  We  talked  of  a beautiful  flower,  a beautiful  tree,  a 
beautiful  landscape.  The  word  was  appropriated  to  some- 
thing external.  The  charm  which  constituted  beauty  re- 
sided in  some  visible  object  on  which  the  eye  loved  to 
repose,  and  from  which  it  took  in  an  impression  agreeable 
to  the  taste  and  to  the  fancy.  In  process  of  time,  however, 
the  term  in  question  obtained  a more  extensive  significa- 
tion. It  was  transferred  not  merely  to  objects  of  hearing, 
but  to  what  was  purely  moral  and  intellectual ; and  we 
speak  in  a manner  perfectly  intelligible  to  all  when  we  ex- 
patiate on  the  beauty  of  a sentiment,  or  even  the  beauty  of 
a doctrine  and  the  beauty  of  a speculation. 

In  this  way,  when  we  propose  to  gain  the  acquiescence 
of  others  in  a particular  doctrine,  there  are  two  distinct 
circumstances  to  be  attended  to — the  degree  of  its  beauty 
by  which  we  can  recommend  it  to  the  taste,  or  the  degree 
of  its  evidence  by  which  we  can  recommend  it  to  the  un- 
derstanding. There  can  only  be  one  opinion  on  the  ques- 
tion, which  of  these  two  claims  should  have  the  precedency. 
It  is  the  boast  of  the  philosopher,  that  Truth  is  the  idol 
whom  he  worships,  and  that  he  will  follow  wherever  the 
light  of  evidence  shall  carry  him,  though  it  should  land  him 
in  conclusions  the  most  nauseous  and  the  most  unpalatable. 
A system  may  have  elegance  and  simplicity  to  recommend 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


183 


it,  and  be  decked  in  all  the  ornaments  which  the  eloquence 
of  it  supporters  can  throw  around  it ; but  if  a single  flaw 
be  found  in  its  evidence,  it  from  that  moment  becomes  the 
philosopher’s  scorn  ; it  is  his  glory  to  own  no  authority  but 
Truth,  and  he  throws  aside  the  beautiful  speculation  as  fit 
only  for  the  amusement  of  childhood. 

Now  if  this  be  the  attribute  of  a good  philosopher,  why 
should  it  not  be  the  attribute  of  a good  divine  ? All  that 
we  plead  for  is  the  paramount  and  exclusive  authority  of 
evidence,  and  that  the  power  of  evidence  upon  the  judg- 
ment shall  at  all  times  carry  it  over  the  power  of  beauty 
upon  the  taste.  All  that  we  demand — and  in  the  demand 
we  see  nothing  but  fairness  and  modesty — is  that  a doctrine 
in  theology  be  tried  upon  the  same  principles  as  a doctrine 
in  science — that  the  question  shall  be  not  what  is  the  most 
alluring  by  its  beauty,  but  what  is  the  most  convincing  by 
its  proofs. 

In  the  prosecution,  therefore,  of  the  following  discourse, 
I shall  endeavor  to  lay  before  you  the  evidence  that  we 
have  for  the  doctrine  of  the  text.  That  evidence  resolves 
itself  into  two  kinds — the  evidence  of  Scripture,  and  the 
evidence  of  direct  observation. 

I shall  be  very  short  on  the  evidence  which  Scripture 
affords  for  the  doctrine  of  the  text.  The  text  itself  is  per- 
fectly decisive.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  illustration  to  make 
it  more  explicit ; and  though  it  had  stood  unsupported  and 
alone,  it  carries  home  the  universal  corruption  of  man  with 
an  evidence  and  an  authority  which  it  is  not  in  the  power 
of  sophistry  to  resist  or  to  explain  away.  We  forbear 
bringing  forward  any  more  quotations — not  because  we 
are  at  a loss  to  find  them,  but  because  of  the  multiplicity 
of  passages  which  offer  themselves — because  it  would  be 
difficult  within  the  limits  oi  a sermon  to  exhibit  even  so 
much  as  an  abridged  view  of  the  testimonies  to  the  deprav- 
ity of  man  which  lie  scattered  over  almost  every  page  of 
the  Bible.  Without  making  so  much  as  a single  reference 
to  particular  passages,  I would  ask  any  man,  upon  his  fair 
and  honest  perusal  of  the  New  Testament,  to  tell  me  what 


184 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


he  conceives  to  be  the  general  purpose  of  Christ’s  coming 
into  the  world  ? Did  not  He  come  into  the  world  upon  a 
ministry  of  reconciliation  ? and  does  not  this  imply  that 
before  that  ministry  was  accomplished  the  world  was  at 
variance  with  God  ? Is  not  His  gospel  offered  to  all  men 
as  a remedy  ? and  does  not  the  very  conception  of  a rem- 
edy imply  the  previous  existence  of  a disease  ? It  is  not 
enough  to  say  that  He  came  to  remedy  our  ignorance  by 
instruction.  This  is  true ; but  did  He  not  also  come  as  a 
propitiation  ? and  does  not  the  very  term  propitiation  im- 
ply the  existence  of  sin  ? Could  I see  any  traces  of  a dis- 
tinction made  by  the  gospel  in  the  terms  which  it  offered  to 
different  individuals,  then  I might  understand  that  it  did  not 
proceed  upon  the  corruption  of  man  as  a constant  and  uni- 
versal fact  in  the  history  of  the  species.  But  when  I find 
that  all  are  addressed  in  the  same  language — when  I see 
no  exceptions  provided  for  in  the  charge  given  to  the  apos- 
tles to  preach  repentance  and  the  remission  of  sins — when 
I see  that  one  and  all  of  us  are  called  upon  to  embrace  the 
gospel  on  precisely  the  same  terms  with  the  most  aban- 
doned of  sinners — when  I see  that  to  become  Christians 
every  man  of  us  must  have  the  same  faith  and  the  same 
baptism,  which  is  the  symbol  of  purification  from  guilt — 
what  am  I to  infer  but  that  the  gospel  views  all  of  us  as  in 
the  same  circumstances,  as  laboring  under  the  malignity  of 
the  same  disease,  and  in  the  same  direful  state  of  alienation 
from  heaven,  from  which  it  is  the  kind  office  of  a generous 
Saviour  to  redeem  and  to  restore  us  ? If  any  man  says 
that  he  is  not  included  in  the  doctrine  of  the  text,  and  that 
he  forms  an  exception  to  its  universality,  then  Christ  may 
be  his  teacher,  He  may  be  his  example,  but  He  is  no  long- 
er what  the  Bible  represents  Hjm — his  Saviour ; and  that 
endearing  title  which  forms  all  the  joy  of  my  life  and  all 
the  hope  of  my  immortality,  is  little  better  in  reference  to 
him  than  the  mockery  of  a name ; Christianity  considered 
as  a scheme  of  recovery  for  sinners  is  frittered  into  noth- 
ing, and  the  words  grace  and  atonement  and  propitiation, 
which  force  themselves  upon  the  eye  in  almost  every  col- 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


185 


umn  of  the  New  Testament,  are  so  many  empty  sounds, 
without  import  and  without  significancy.  To  support  the 
doctrine  of  my  text  I do  not  need  to  refer  to  the  authority 
of  particular  passages — I refer  to  the  essential  character  of 
the  New  Dispensation,  the  grand  object  of  which  is  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  which  is  lost ; and  when  I am  told  that 
there  is  no  other  name  given  under  heaven  by  which  man 
can  be  saved  but  the  name  of  Jesus,  what  am  I to  under- 
stand but  that  all  must  obtain  the  shelter  and  the  patronage 
of  that  name  before  they  can  secure  their  admittance  into 
heaven?  If  there  is  a man  among  us  who  can  stand  upon 
the  perfection  of  his  own  character,  then  I say  of  him  that 
he  is  independent  of  that  patronage  ; that  he  can  be  saved 
by  another  name  than  the  name  of  Jesus  ; that  he  can  ap- 
proach the  throne  of  the  Almighty  in  the  name  of  his  own 
righteousness,  and  can  appeal  for  his  passport  to  heaven  to 
the  purity  which  has  guided  him,  and  to  the  virtue  which 
has  adorned  him.  It  strikes  me  that  the  whole  of  Chris- 
tianity proceeds  upon  the  inability  of  man  to  make  this 
appeal — that  what  he  cannot  do  for  Himself  a kind  Saviour 
has  undertaken  to  do  for  him  ; that  He  announces  Himself 
the  Saviour  of  all  who  trust  in  Him,  because  all  stand  in  need 
of  His  interposition  ; and  that  it  is  not  by  works  of  right- 
eousness which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  His  mercy 
that  He  hath  saved  us.  To  disown  the  principle  of  the 
text,  then,  appears  to  me  to  be  equivalent  to  an  entire  sub- 
version of  Christianity.  It  would  be  cutting  away  the 
ground  upon  which  the  whole  fabric  is  supported ; it  would 
destroy  it  as  a scheme  of  reconciliation  proposed  to  all,  be- 
cause needed  by  all.  It  might  remain  a beautiful  system 
of  morals,  which  poetry  might  deck  with  images,  and  elo- 
quence expatiate  on  with  visionary  rapture,  but  all  the  life 
which  gave  substance  and  animation  to  its  morality  would 
be  withdrawn.  Though  the  doctrine  of  corruption  were 
abandoned  as  a general  principle,  the  consciousness  and 
the  despair  of  guilt  would  still  continue  to  haunt  the  bosom 
of  every  individual ; there  would  be  no  principle  to  urge 
him  to  exertion,  because  the  experience  of  every  one  wculd 


186 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


tell  him  that  this  exertion  was  unavailing — the  splendid 
virtues  of  the  gospel  would  only  serve  to  remind  him  of  his 
errors,  and  to  multiply  upon  his  head  the  terrors  of  its  vio- 
lated authority  ; the  unexpiated  sentence  of  guilt  would 
still  hang  over  him ; and  if  conscience  discharged  its  part 
with  faithful  severity,  he  would  soon  feel  the  system  of 
morals  in  the  New  Testament  to  be  so  perfect  and  so  beau- 
tiful, that,  without  the  stimulus  of  gospel  motives  and  gos- 
pel principles,  it  were  vain  to  contemplate  and  hopeless  to 
aspire  after  it. 

This  is  all  the  argument  for  the  corruption  of  man  which 
I shall  urge  at  present  on  the  ground  of  Scriptural  author- 
ity. But  I take  the  opportunity  of  stating,  what  I hold  to 
be  an  undeniable  principle,  that  the  authority  of  the  Bible 
is  not  only  completely  decisive  on  this  subject,  but  para-* 
mount  to  every  other.  I hold  it  to  be  not  only  impious  but 
unphilosophical  to  go  about  .with  an  attempt  to  mold  and 
conform  an  authoritative  doctrine  of  the  Bible  either  by  the 
arguments  of  human  reasoning,  or  by  the  illustrations  of 
human  fancy.  This,  you  will  observe,  is  no  impeachment 
upon  the  supremacy  of  reason.  Let  reason  be  employed 
in  pronouncing  upon  the  claims  of  Christianity  to  be  a re- 
ligion from  heaven,  and  in  proving  that  the  Bible  is  not  a 
fabrication  of  impostors,  but  the  authentic  record  of  inspired 
truth  ; let  it  be  further  employed  in  ascertaining,  upon  the 
approved  principles  of  criticism,  the  sense  of  its  original 
language,  and  in  bringing  forward  a correct  representation 
of  that  sense  to  the  illiterate ; but  after  these  are  accom- 
plished, it  is  the  part  of  reason  to  resign  her  office,  for  if 
she  advance  a single  inch  further  she  steps  beyond  her 
province  ; and  we  appeal  to  any  man  who  has  made  a 
philosophical  survey  of  the  human  faculties,  if  there  be  not 
as  much  falsehood  and  error  in  pronouncing  with  certainty 
upon  what  reason  is  incompetent  to  judge  of,  as  in  shrink- 
ing from  the  office  of  examination  with  the  safe  and  certain 
materials  of  judgment  before  you.  It  is  the  part  of  reason, 
amid  the  clashing  pretensions  of  the  various  systems  which 
are  proposed  to  it,  to  seek  for  the  genuine  record  of  the 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


187 


divine  will ; but  it  is  also  the  part  of  reason  to  listen  ex- 
clusively to  the  voice  of  inspiration  after  she  has  found  it  • 
and  I am  not  renouncing  the  authority  of  my  judging  prin- 
ciple but  following  its  dictates,  when,  after  the  Bible  is 
established  as  the  directory  of  my  faith,  I offer  to  it  the  un- 
conditional surrender  of  my  understanding,  and  submit  my 
mind  as  a blank  surface  to  whatever  the  Almighty,  by  His 
word  and  by  His  doctrine,  chooses  to  engrave  upon  it. 

The  doctrine  of  the  text  forms  to  a certain  extent  an  ex- 
ception to  the  above  observations.  When  the  article  of 
faith  is  without  the  range  of  human  experience,  then  there 
is  nothing  for  it  but  an  unreserved  submission  of  the  mind. 
Such  subjects  as  the  dignity  of  our  Saviour’s  person — the 
existence  of  higher  orders  of  beings — the  agency  of  evil 
spirits  in  the  affairs  of  the  world — the  counsels  of  heaven 
— the  efficacy  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  in  bringing  guilty  man 
to  favor  and  to  immortality — the  influences  of  the  Spirit — 
these,  and  many  others,  stand  beyond  the  limits  of  unas- 
sisted observation,  and  on  them  the  revelation  of  God  must 
therefore  be  received  not  merely  as  the  supreme  but  as  the 
only  authority.  But  we  meet  with  other  assertions  in  the 
Bible  which  come  within  the  familiar  experience  of  human 
beings,  and  which  can  therefore  be  tried  by  that  experience. 
A very  simple  example  of  this  is  when  our  Saviour  says  to 
his  countrymen — ■“  When  ye  see  a cloud  rise  out  of  the  west, 
straightway  ye  say  there  cometh  a shower,  and  so  it  is ; 
and  when  ye  see  the  south  wind  blow,  ye  say  that  it  will  be 
heat,  and  it  cometh  to  pass.”  Our  Saviour  here  tells  what 
prognostics  were  made  in  the  country  of  Judea,  and  what 
kind  of  weather  usually  followed  them.  The  truth  of  this 
assertion  comes  within  the  testimony  of  the  senses.  If  con- 
firmed by  that  testimony,  it  just  happens  in  the  way  that 
the  evidence  of  His  truth  and  of  His  divinity  would  lead  us 
to  anticipate  ; but  if  contradicted  by  that  testimony,  it  would 
have  the  effect  of  unsettling  our  faith — it  would  stand  an 
impeachment  upon  His  authority  as  a messenger  from 
heaven,  and  we  might  feel  ourselves  justified  in  withdraw- 
ing our  confidence  from  a teacher  who  affirmed  to  be  true 


188 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


what  we  know  to  be  false  by  an  independent  channel  of 
evidence.  The  doctrine  of  the  text  is  a higher  example  of 
the  same  kind.  By  asserting  the  corruption  of  man,  it  as- 
serts a fact  which  comes  within  the  cognizance  of  the  hu- 
man faculties,  and  the  reality  of  which  may  be  tried  by  a 
direct  appeal  to  the  evidence  of  consciousness.  We  have 
the  law  of  God  written  in  our  hearts,  and  we  have  that 
law  written  in  a more  perfect  and  explicit  manner  upon  the 
well-authenticated  record  of  inspiration.  The  question  sim- 
ply is, — Do  we  come  up  to  the  purity  of  that  law  ? And  it 
is  a question  which  falls  within  the  legitimate  boundaries 
of  human  experience.  I therefore  pass  on  from  the  evidence 
of  Scripture  to  the  evidence  of  human  observation,  and  I 
do  it  for  the  sake  of  those  who  have  a greater  respect  for 
the  latter  authority  than  for  the  former.  On  the  principle 
of  being  all  things  to  all  men  that  we  may  gain  some,  it  is 
the  part  of  the  Christian  teacher  to  withhold  no  argument 
which  may  be  effectual  in  gaining  the  concurrence  of  those 
to  whom  he  addresses  himself.  The  corruption  of  human 
nature  is  perhaps  the  most  offensive  doctrine  of  Christian- 
ity to  the  tasteful  admirers  of  fine  sentiment  and  beautiful 
morality.  They  may  not  be  ashamed  if  their  orthodoxy  is 
impeached,  but  they  may  be  made  perhaps  to  take  the  alarm 
if  their  philosophy  is  questioned  ; and  if  we  can  once  bring 
the  evidence  of  observation  to  support  us,  it  may  compel 
their  acknowledgment  at  a time  when  the  authority  of 
Scripture  would  be  found  ineffectual.  A man  may  carry 
in  his  speculations  an  indifference  to  the  Bible,  and  yet  sus- 
tain his  reputation  in  the  cultivated  and  literary  orders  ; but 
no  man  can  turn  away  from  the  evidence  of  observation 
without  bringing  his  character  for  philosophy  into  disre^ 
pute.  It  is  by  following  this  evidence  that  modern  science 
has  reached  her  wonderful  elevation  in  these  latter  days ; 
and  if  by  the  same  instrument  we  can  establish  the  doctrine 
of  the  text,  it  may  be  the  means  of  clearing  away  from 
Christianity  one  of  her  chief  stumbling-blocks — it  may  ex- 
tend her  triumphs  in  a new  quarter,  and  by  giving  her  an 
ascendency  over  the  minds  of  the  speculative,  it  may  lead 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


189 


them  to  cast  down  their  lofty  imaginations — to  bring  every 
thought  of  their  hearts  into  the  captivity  of  the  gospel,  and 
into  the  entire  obedience  of  its  humility  and  its  righteousness. 

The  question  of  fact,  then,  which  employs  us  is, — In  how 
far  man  attains  to  the  perfection  of  righteousness  ? and  I 
conceive  that,  to  save  much  false  argument  and  much  su- 
perfluous illustration,  we  may  bring  this  question  at  once  to 
a decisive  and  effectual  touchstone — I would  bring  his  con- 
duct to  an  immediate  comparison  with  the  first  great  com- 
mandment of  the  law.  To  estimate  the  degree  of  closeness 
and  purity  with  which  he  maintains  his  perseverance  in  the 
path  of  duty,  I would  fasten  upon  the  greatest  of  all  his 
duties,  and  to  which  every  other  is  referable — I mean  his 
duty  to  God ; and  I put  it  to  the  conscience  of  the  most 
perfect  man  upon  earth,  in  how  far  every  action  of  his  life 
is  under  the  direction  of  this  great  and  authoritative  prin- 
ciple ? Is  God  always  present  to  his  thoughts  ? Does  the 
fear  of  Him  ever  accompany  him  through  the  hourly  and 
familiar  movements  of  his  history  ? Is  His  authority  as  a 
lawgiver  the  perpetual  point  of  appeal,  to  which  he  is  sure 
to  repair  amid  the  various  cases  and  difficulties  which  occur 
to  him?  Instead  of  abandoning  his  conduct  to  the  play  ol 
earthly  passions  and  the  calculation  of  earthly  principles, 
does  he  feel  every  moment  of  his  life  the  fear  of  God  ope- 
rating within  him,  and  exerting  the  ascendency  of  a great 
master-principle  to  control  all  the  inferior  appetites  and 
propensities  of  his  nature  ? My  own  experience  tells  me 
that  I could  answer  most  decisively  for  myself ; and  I put 
it  to  your  consciences  if  the  answer  be  not  applicable  to 
you.  So  far  from  feeling  the  fear  of  God  to  be  a sentiment 
of  constant  and  universal  influence,  there  is  a great  majority 
of  our  time  in  which  we  never  think  of  Him.  We  may  at 
times  be  visited  by  a holy  feeling  of  His  presence  and  au- 
thority, but  the  devout  affection  vanishes  with  the  retire- 
ment which  gave  it  birth.  The  mien  and  daylight  of  the 
world  are  ever  driving  away  from  us  the  thought  of  a pres- 
ent Deity  ; the  objects  of  time  engross  every  faculty ; and 
at  the  very  moment  that  the  countenance  of  man  speaks 


90 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


him  to  be  most  in  earnest,  and  that  the  profoundest  of  his 
wisdom  is  at  its  busiest  exercise,  we  shall  find  that  it  is  the 
interest  of  this  paltry  and  perishable  scene  which  absorbs 
him.  Look  to  his  mind,  and  in  the  subjects  which  most 
frequently  engage  it  you  see  nothing  there  of  the  grandeur 
of  eternity,  and  no  sublime  reference  to  that  mighty  Being 
who  gave  it  all  its  sense  and  all  its  inspiration.  For  the 
greater  part  of  the  day  God  is  not  in  all  his  thoughts ; and 
though  he  owes  to  Him  every  breath  which  He  draws  and 
every  comfort  which  he  enjoys,  yet  his  conduct,  so  far  from 
being  under  the  certain  guidance  and  authority  of  the  divine 
law,  is  at  the  mercy  of  every  caprice  which  plays  upon 
him,  and  every  fluctuating  vision  which  comes  across  his 
senses. 

The  simple  question  is, — Ought  this  to  be  so  ? For  if  it 
ought  not,  man  is  in  a state  of  actual  corruption ; he  falls 
below  the  standard  of  his  duty ; and  the  doctrine  of  the 
text  has  the  testimony  of  experience  to  confirm  it.  This 
habitual  negligence  of  God  is  a decisive  fact  furnished  by 
observation ; and  we  have  only  to  compare  it  with  the  law 
written  in  our  hearts  and  the  law  written  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This 
is  the  first  and  great  commandment,  says  Jesus  Christ, 
whose  authority  as  a teacher  from  heaven  reason  cannot 
refuse  to  acknowledge.  But  let  us  appeal  to  the  natural 
conscience  of  man — and  it  gives  us  precisely  the  same  an- 
swer. Think  of  God  as  your  constant  benefactor — that 
He  made  you,  that  He  sustains  you  in  every  moment  of 
your  existence — that,  to  express  ourselves  with  the  simple 
energy  of  inspiration,  in  Him  you  live,  and  move,  and  have 
your  being — that  in  all  the  joys  which  are  scattered  over 
the  pilgrimage  of  life,  we  see  nothing  but  the  kindness  of 
God  always  exerting  itself  in  our  favor,  and  meeting  us  in 
every  direction — that  though  we  seldom  look  beyond  the 
creatures  which  surround  us,  it  is  God  who  reigns  in  these 
creatures,  and  makes  them  subservient  to  His  most  wise, 
His  most  gracious.  His  most  benevolent  purposes — that 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


191 


though  in  the  hey-day  of  youth  we  are  carried  along  the 
tide  of  gayety  without  care  and  without  reflection,  it  is 
God  who  gives  to  the  spirit  of  man  all  its  cheerfulness — 
that  though  we  stop  short  in  our  gratitude  at  the  benefactor 
who  relieved  and  at  the  friend  who  supported  us,  it  is  God 
who  reigns  over  the  constitution  of  the  mind,  and  could  by 
a single  word  of  His  power  make  every  companion  aban- 
don us,  and  every  friend  look  upon  us  with  an  altered  coun- 
tenance— that  though  I call  the  house  in  which  I live  my 
own,  and  find  in  the  endearments  of  my  family  my  repose 
and  my  happiness,  it  is  God  who  gave  me  my  home,  who 
spreads  security  around  it,  and  fills  it  with  all  its  charities 
— that  though  my  path  in  society  be  dignified  by  the  homage 
and  civility  of  my  acquaintances,  it  is  God  who  reigns  in 
the  human  breast,  and  administers  all  the  delight  of  social 
intercourse — that  though  my  eye  expatiates  in  rapture  on 
the  landscape  around  me,  it  is  the  living  God  who  beautifies 
the  scene, and  gives  it  all  its  magnificence  and  all  its  glory; 
in  short,  that  every  thing  we  enjoy  is  a gift — that  in  what- 
ever quarter  happiness  is  met  with,  a burden  of  obligation 
and  dependence  lies  upon  us — that  we  have  nothing  which 
we  did  not  receive — that  our  all  is  suspended  on  God,  and 
that  to  Him  we  owe  all  the  praise,  all  the  gratitude,  all  the 
obedience.  Now,  will  any  man  who  is  acquainted  with  the 
movements  of  his  own  breast,  say  that  this  praise  and  this 
obedience  are  actually  given?  Are  not  the  pleasures  of 
life  often  tasted  without  acknowledgment  ? Is  not  the  con- 
duct of  life  often  proceeded  in  without  any  reference  to  the 
will  and  authority  of  Him  who  is  the  author  of  it  ? Is  not 
the  mind  in  a state  of  habitual  estrangement  from  God, 
His  existence  absent  from  our  reflections,  and  His  suprem- 
acy as  a Judge  and  as  a Lawgiver  absent  from  our  prin- 
ciples ? Go  to  whatever  quarter  you  please  for  happiness, 
there  is  no  escaping  the  conclusion  that  God  is  the  giver  of 
it,  in  His  pervading  energy  which  gives  effect  and  operation 
to  all  things.  You  cannot  fly  out  of  His  presence,  nor  re- 
pair beyond  the  limits  of  His  sovereignty.  Of  all  the  im- 
possibles which  ever  were  attempted,  there  is  none  so  wild 


192 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


and  so  irrational  as  to  attempt  an  independence  upon  God. 
It  is  in  virtue  of  Him  that  you  are  held  together.  He  mea- 
sures out  to  you  every  moment  of  your  existence.  He  gives 
you  not  merely  the  air  you  breathe,  but  He  gives  you  the 
faculty  of  breathing.  He  provides  for  you  not  merely  the 
external  goods  which  are  scattered  around  you  in  such 
bounteous  profusion,  but  it  is  He  who  furnishes  you  with  the 
capacity  of  enjoying  them.  You  talk  of  the  pleasures  of  the 
world,  and  fly  to  them  as  your  refuge  and  your  consolation 
against  the  displeasure  of  an  offended  Deity,  but  think  that 
it  is  only  by  a continuance  of  His  unmerited  favor  that  you 
have  these  pleasures  to  fly  to.  He  can  take  them  away 
from  you ; or,  what  perhaps  is  a still  more  striking  demon- 
stration of  His  sovereignty,  He  can  make  them  no  longer 
pleasures  to  you.  He  reigns  within  as  well  as  without  you. 
To  Him  you  owe  not  merely  what  is  external,  but  to  Him 
you  owe  the  taste  and  the  faculty  which  enjoys  it.  He  can 
pervert  these  faculties — He  can  change  your  pleasures  into 
disgust — He  can  derange  the  constitution  of  the  inner  man, 
and  make  you  loathe  as  tasteless  and  unsatisfying  what  you 
at  present  indulge  in  with  delight,  or  look  forward  to  with 
rapture.  He  is  all  in  all.  The  whole  of  our  being  hangs 
upon  Him,  and  there  is  no  getting  awTay  from  His  universal, 
from  His  ceaseless,  from  His  unexcepted  agency.  Now, 
do  the  Almighty  the  same  justice  that  you  would  do  to  an 
earthly  benefactor ; measure  the  extent  of  His  claims  upon 
you  by  the  extent  of  His  benefits ; think  of  the  authority 
over  you  which,  as  your  Creator  and  as  your  constant 
preserver,  He  has  a right  to  exercise ; think  of  your  per- 
petual dependence,  and  that  all  around  you  and  within  you 
— for  every  moment  and  particle  of  your  existence,  is  up- 
held by  God  ; and  tell  me,  if  either  in  the  thoughts  of  your 
heart  or  in  the  actions  of  your  life,  you  come  up  to  the  de- 
mand which  His  justice  and  His  authority  have  a title  to 
prefer  against  you  ? The  answer  is  obvious.  It  may  be 
collected  from  the  heart  and  the  history  of  every  individ- 
ual. Man,  though  the  most  perfect  of  his  kind,  falls  short 
of  the  glory  of  God.  He  is  forgetful  of  the  hand  that 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


193 


formed  him,  and  of  the  right  hand  that  guides  and  that  sus- 
tains him. 

There  is  a delusion  upon  this  subject.  If  we  look  abroad 
on  the  face  of  society  we  must  be  struck  with  the  diversity 
of  character  in  the  individuals  who  compose  it — some,  it  is 
allowed,  in  the  estimation  of  the  world  are  execrable  for 
their  crimes,  but  others,  in  the  same  estimation,  are  illus- 
trious for  their  virtues.  In  that  general  mass  of  corruption 
to  which  we  would  reduce  our  unfortunate  species,  is  there, 
it  may  be  asked,  no  solitary  example  of  what  is  pure  and 
honorable  and  lovely  ? Do  we  never  meet  with  the  char- 
ity which  melts  at  suffering — with  the  honesty  which  dis- 
claims and  is  proudly  superior  to  falsehood — with  the  active 
beneficence  which  gives  to  alms  its  time  and  its  labor — 
with  the  modesty  which  shrinks  from  notice  and  gives  all 
its  sweetness  to  retirement — with  the  gentleness  which 
breathes  peace  to  all,  and  throws  a beautiful  luster  over 
the  walks  of  domestic  society  ? If  we  find  these  virtues  to 
be  sometimes  exemplified  in  the  characters  of  those  around 
us,  is  not  this  an  argument  which  is  supplied  by  experience 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  text?  And  will  it  not  serve  in 
part  to  redeem  humanity  from  that  sweeping  and  indis- 
criminate charge  of  corruption  which  is  so  often  advanced 
against  it  in  all  the  pride  and  intolerance  of  orthodoxy  ? 
What  better  evidence  can  be  given  of  our  sense  of  duty 
toward  God  than  adherence  to  His  law?  and  are  not  the 
virtues  which  I have  just  now  specified  part  of  that  law  ? 
are  not  they  the  very  virtues  which  His  authority  imposes 
upon  us,  and  which  impart  such  a <diarm  to  the  morality 
of  the  New  Testament? 

Now,  to  carry  you  at  once  into  the  oottom  of  this  doc- 
trine, let  it  be  observed,  that  though  the  religious  principle 
can  never  exist  without  the  amiable  and  virtuous  conduct 
of  the  New  Testament,  that  conduct  may  in  some  measure 
exist  without  the  religious  principle.  Men  may  be  led  to 
precisely  the  same  conduct  upon  the  impulse  of  very  dif- 
ferent principles.  A man  may  be  gentle  because  it  is  a 
prescription  of  the  divine  law ; or  he  may  be  gentle  be- 
vol.  vi. — I 


194 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


cause  he  is  naturally  of  a peaceful  and  indolent  constitu- 
tion ; or  he  may  be  gentle  because  he  sees  it  to  be  an  amia- 
ble gracefulness  with  which  he  wishes  to  adorn  his  own 
character ; or  he  may  be  gentle  because  it  is  the  ready 
way  of  propitiating  the  friendship  of  those  around  him ; or 
he  may  be  gentle  because  taught  to  observe  it  as  a part  of 
courtly  and  fashionable  deportment ; and  what  was  im- 
planted by  education  may  come  in  time  to  be  confirmed  by 
habit  and  experience.  Now,  it  is  only  under  the  first  of 
these  principles  that  there  is  any  religion  in  gentleness. 
The  other  principles  may  produce  all  the  outward  appear- 
ance of  this  virtue,  and  much  even  of  its  inward  compla- 
cency, and  yet  be  as  distinct  from  the  religious  principle  as 
they  are  distinct  from  one  another.  To  infer  the  strength 
of  a religious  principle  from  the  taste  of  the  human  mind 
for  what  is  graceful  and  lovely  in  character,  would  be  as 
preposterous  as  to  infer  it  from  the  admiration  of  a fine 
picture  or  a cultivated  landscape.  They  are  not  to  be  con- 
founded. They  occupy  a different  place  even  in  the  classi- 
fication of  philosophy.  We  do  not  deny  that  the  admi- 
ration of  what  is  fine  in  character  is  a principle  of  a higher 
order  than  the  admiration  of  what  is  fine  in  external  scen- 
ery. So  is  a taste  for  what  is  beautiful  in  the  prospect  be- 
fore us  a principle  of  a higher  order  than  a taste  for  the 
sensualities  of  the  epicure  ; but  they,  one  and  all  of  them, 
stand  at  a wide  distance  from  the  religious  principle ; and 
whether  it  be  taste  or  temper,  or  the  love  of  popularity,  or 
the  high  impulse  of  honorable  feeling,  or  even  the  love  of 
truth  and  a natural  principle  of  integrity,  the  virtues  in  ques- 
tion may  be  so  unconnected  with  religion  as  to  flourish  in 
the  world  and  be  rewarded  with  its  admiration,  even  though 
a God  were  expunged  from  the  belief,  and  immortality  from 
the  prospect  of  the  species. 

The  virtues,  then,  to  which  the  enemies  of  our  doctrine 
make  such  a confident  appeal  may  have  no  force  whatever 
in  the  argument,  because,  properly  speaking,  they  may  hot 
be  exemplifications  of  the  religious  principle.  If  you  do 
what  is  virtuous  because  God  tells  you  so,  then,  and  then 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


195 


only,  do  you  give  us  a fair  example  of  the  authority  of  re- 
ligion over  your  practice.  But  if  you  do  it  merely  because 
it  is  lovely,  because  it  is  honorable,  or  because  it  is  a fine 
moral  accomplishment,  I will  not  be  behind  my  neighbors 
in  giving  the  testimony  of  my  admiration ; but  I cannol 
submit  to  such  an  error  either  of  conception  or  of  language 
as  to  say  that  there  is  any  religion  in  all  this.  I am  not 
for  expunging  the  lovely  and  the  honorable  from  the  char- 
acter of  man.  These  qualities  have  all  my  friendship  and 
all  my  applause ; and  I give  them  the  most  substantial  evi- 
dence of  my  regard  when,  instead  of  leaving  them  to  their 
own  solitary  claims  upon  the  human  heart,  I call  in  the  aid 
of  religion,  and  support  them  by  the  authority  of  the  New 
Testament — “ Whatsoever  things  are  pure,  or  lovely,  or 
honest,  or  of  good  report ; if  there  be  any  virtue,  if  there 
be  any  praise,  think  of  these  things.”  But  I will  not  allow 
that  the  mere  circumstance  of  their  being  lovely  shall  be 
suffered  to  degrade  or  to  extinguish  the  authority  of  re-  j 
ligion  ; nor  can  I endure  such  an  injustice  to  the  Author  of 
all  that  is  graceful,  both  in  nature  and  in  morality,  as  that 
the  native  claims  of  virtue  shall  usurp  in  our  admiration 
the  place  of  God — of  Him  who  gave  to  virtue  all  its 
charms,  and  who  formed  the  heart  of  man  to  love  and  to 
admire  them. 

Be  not  deceived,  then,  into  a rejection  of  the  text  by  the 
specimens  of  moral  excellence  which  are  to  be  met  with 
in  society,  or  by  the  praise  which  your  own  virtue  extorts 
from  an  applauding  neighborhood.  Virtue  may  exist,  and 
to  such  a degree,  too,  as  is  sufficient  to  constitute  it  a lovely 
object  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ; but  if  in  the  cultivation  of 
that  virtue  there  be  no  reference  of  the  mind  to  the  au- 
thority of  God,  there  is  no  religion.  Such  virtue  as  this 
has  its  reward  in  its  naturalxonsequences,  in  the  admira- 
tion of  others,  and  in  the  delights  of  conscious  satisfaction ; 
but  I cannot  see  why  God  will  reward  it  in  the  capacity 
of  your  master,  when  His  service  was  not  the  principle  of 
it ; nor  do  I see  how  He  will  reward  it  in  the  capacity  of 
your  judge,  when  in  the  whole  process  of  virtuous  feeling, 


196 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


and  virtuous  sentiment,  and  virtuous  conduct,  you  did  not 
for  a single  moment  carry  in  your  heart  any  reference  to 
Him  as  your  lawgiver.  1 do  not  deny  that  there  are  many 
such  examples  of  virtue  in  the  world,  but  then  I insist  upon 
it  that  they  cannot  be  put  down  to  the  account  of  relig- 
ion. They  often  may  and  actually  do  exist  in  a state  of  en- 
tire separation  from  the  religious  principle  ; and  in  that 
even  they  go  no  farther  than  to  prove  that  your  taste  is 
unvitiated — that  your  temper  is  amiable — that  your  secret 
principles  promote  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  will  be  rewarded  with  its  admiration.  It  is  well 
that  you  act  your  part  aright  as  a member  of  society  ; and 
religion  by  making  it  one  of  its  injunctions,  gives  us  the 
very  best  security  that  wherever  its  influence  prevails  it 
will  be  done  in  the  most  perfect  manner  ; but  the  point 
which  I labor  to  impress  is,  that  a man  may  be  what  we  all 
understand  by  a good  member  of  society,  without  the  au- 
thority of  God  as  his  legislator  being  either  recognized  or 
acted  upon.  I do  not  say  that  his  error  lies  in  being  a good 
member  of  society : this,  though  a circumstance,  is  a very 
fortunate  one.  The  error  lies  in  his  having  discarded  the 
authority  of  God,  or  rather  in  never  having  admitted  the 
influence  of  that  authority  over  his  principles.  I want  to 
guard  him  against  the  delusion  that  the  principle  which  he 
has,  ever  can  be  accepted  as  a substitute  for  the  principle 
which  he  has  not ; or  that  the  very  highest  sense  of  duty 
which  his  situation  as  a member  of  society  impresses  upon 
his  feelings  will  ever  be  received  as  an  atonement  for  want- 
ing that  sense  of  duty  to  God  which  he  ought  to  feel  in  the 
far  more  exalted  capacity  of  His  servant  and  candidate  for 
His  approbation.  I stand  upon  the  high  ground  that  he  is 
the  subject  of  the  Almighty,  nor  will  I shrink  from  reveal- 
ing the  whole  extent  of  my  principles.  Let  his  path  in  so- 
ciety be  ever  so  illustrious  b^  the  virtues  which  adorn  it — 
let  every  word  and  every  performance  be  as  honorable  as 
a proud  sense  of  integrity  can  make  it ; let  the  salutations 
of  the  market-place  mark  him  out  as  the  most  respectable 
of  the  citizens,  and  the  gratitude  of  a thousand  families  sing 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


197 


the  praises  of  his  beneficence  to  the  world  ; if  the  actor  in 
this  splendid  exhibition  carry  in  his  mind  no  reference  to 
the  authority  of  God,  I do  not  hesitate  a moment  to  pro- 
nounce him  unworthy,  nor  shall  all  the  execrations  of  gen- 
erous but  mistaken  principle  deter  me  from  putting  forth 
my  hand  to  strip  him  of  his  honors.  What ! is  the  world 
to  gaze  in  admiration  on  this  fair  spectacle  of  virtue,  and 
am  I to  be  told  that  the  Being  who  gave  such  faculties  to 
one  of  His  children,  and  provides  the  theater  for  their  ex- 
ercise— that  the  Being  who  called  this  scene  into  exist- 
ence and  gave  it  all  its  beauties,  that  He  may  be  innocently 
forgotten  and  neglected?  Shall  I give  a deceitful  luster  to 
the  virtues  of  him  who  is  unmindful  of  his  God ; and  with 
all  the  grandeur  of  eternity  before  me,  can  I learn  to  ad- 
mire these  short-lived  exertions  which  only  shed  a fleeting 
brilliancy  over  a paltry  and  perishable  scene  ? It  is  true 
that  he  who  is  faithful  in  little  will  be  also  counted  faithful 
in  much,  and  when  regard  to  God  is  the  principle  of  this 
fidelity  the  very  humblest  wishes  of  benevolence  will  be  re- 
corded. But  its  most  splendid  exertions  without  this  prin- 
ciple have  no  inheritance  in  heaven.  Human  praise  and 
human  eloquence  may  acknowledge  it,  but  the  Discerner 
of  hearts  never  will.  The  heart  may  be  the  seat  of  every 
amiable  feeling,  and  every  claim  that  comes  to  it  in  the  shape 
of  human  misery  may  find  a welcome  ; but  if  the  authority 
of  religious  principle  be  not  there,  it  is  not  right  with  God, 
and  he  who  owns  it  will  die  in  his  sins — he  is  in  a state  of 
impenitency. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  those  virtues  which  exist  in  a 
state  of  independence  upon  the  religious  principle,  we  must 
be  forced  to  recur  to  the  doctrine  of  the  text  in  all  its  orig- 
inal aggravation.  Man  is  corrupt,  and  the  estrangement 
of  his  heart  from  God  is  the  decisive  evidence  of  it.  Every 
day  of  his  life  the  first  commandment  of  the  law  is  tram- 
pled upon,  and  it  is  on  that  commandment  that  the  author- 
ity of  the  whole  is  suspended.  His  best  exertions  are  un- 
sound in  their  very  principle ; and  as  the  love  of  God  reigns 
not  within  him,  all  that  has  usurped  the  name  of  virtue  and 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


103 

has  deceived  us  by  its  semblance,  must  be  a mockery  and 
a delusion. 

But  the  doctrine  of  the  text  might  be  vindicated  even 
upon  lower  principles.  I might  throw  out  of  sight  entirely 
the  first  great  commandment  of  the  law,  and  direct  my  ex- 
clusive attention  to  the  second — Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself.  I might  apply  to  the  human  character  man’s 
own  favorite  touchstone,  and  without  any  reference  what- 
ever to  the  authority  of  God  might  try  it  by  the  great  law 
of  benevolence,  reposing  on  its  own  charms  and  its  own 
obligations. 

This  my  time  will  not  permit  me  to  do,  but  I think  it  nec- 
essary to  guard  from  misapprehension  what  I have  said  as 
to  benevolence  existing  in  a state  of  separation  from  piety. 
Do  I mean  by  this  to  disconnect  benevolence  from  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Christian,  or  to  throw  upon  it  the  slightest  asper- 
sion ? No,  my  brethren,  benevolence  is  like  to  piety : he 
who  wants  benevolence  has  no  pretensions  to  piety — he 
who  loves  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  does  not  love 
God  whom  he  hath  not  seen  ; and  let  all  speculation  be 
done  away,  and  all  argument  be  given  to  the  winds,  rather 
than  that  this  lovely  and  characteristic  feature  of  the  gos- 
pel should  suffer  the  slightest  obscuration.  By  putting  the 
case  of  an  amiable  and  romantic  benevolence  existing  in  a 
state  of  separation  from  the  sense  of  God,  and  by  lifting  a 
voice  of  condemnation  against  it,  I may  have  shocked  the 
tenderness  of  your  feelings,  and  made  you  recoil  in  aver- 
sion as  from  the  harsh  voice  of  a stern  and  unrelenting 
orthodoxy.  Spare  your  agitations,  my  brethren.  I have 
done  no  man  injustice,  for  the  case  is  imaginary.  Benevo- 
lence may  make  some  brilliant  exhibitions  of  herself  with- 
out the  instigations  of  the  religious  principle ; she  may  make 
some  romantic  sacrifices,  and  the  quantity  of  money  sur- 
rendered may  be  far  beyond  thd  average  charities  of  the 
world  ; but  give  me  a man  who  carries  out  benevolence  in 
the  whole  extent  of  its  sacrifices  ; who  labors  unknown  in 
scenes  where  there  is  no  brilliancy  to  reward  him ; who 
supports  the  habit  of  unwearied  well-doing  amid  the  growl- 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


199 


ings  of  ingratitude  and  the  provocations  of  dishonesty ; who 
maintains  a uniform  tone  of  kindness  in  the  retirement  of 
his  own  house  and  amid  the  irksome  annoyances  of  his  own 
family ; who  endures  hardness  as  a good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ;  whose  humanity  exists  as  vigorously  amid  the  re- 
proaches and  the  calumny  and  the  contradiction  of  sinners, 
as  amid  the  sad  pictures  of  weeping  orphans  and  interest- 
ing cottagers — I maintain,  my  brethren,  that  no  such  benev- 
olence exists  without  a deeply-seated  principle  of  piety  ly- 
ing at  the  bottom  of  it.  Walk  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  and 
away  from  Christianity  and  beyond  the  circle  of  its  influ- 
ences, there  is  positively  no  such  benevolence  to  be  found. 
The  patience  and  the  meekness,  and  all  the  more  difficult 
exercises  of  benevolence,  must  be  nourished  by  the  influ- 
ences of  heaven,  and  looking  beyond  all  that  dazzles  the 
theater  of  the  world,  must  have  its  eye  fixed  on  a better 
and  a more  enduring  country.  Even  the  most  splendid  en- 
terprises of  benevolence  which  the  world  ever  witnessed 
can  be  traced  to  the  operation  of  what  the  world  laughs  at 
as  a Quakerish  and  Methodistical  piety ; and  we  appeal  to 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  and  to  the  still  nobler  abo- 
lition of  ignorance  and  vice  which  is  now  accomplishing 
in  the  pagan  and  uncivilized  countries  of  the  earth,  for  a 
proof  that,  in  good-will  to  man,  as  well  as  in  glory  to  God, 
your  men  of  piety  bear  away  the  palm  of  superiority  in 
triumph. 

I conclude  with  two  observations.  If  all  Scripture  and 
all  experience  can  be  brought  in  to  support  the  doctrine  of 
my  text,  should  not  this  stir  the  question  within  each  indi- 
vidual who  now  hears  me — What  shall  I do  to  be  saved  ? 
If  there  be  a throne  in  heaven  and  a God  sitting  upon  that 
throne,  what  is  to  become  of  me  who  have  trampled  on  the 
solemn  authority  of  His  law,  and  come  under  the  full  weight 
of  its  condemnation  ? I may  wrap  myself  in  a general  feel- 
ing of  security  that  God  is  merciful,  but  in  a question  of 
such  mighty  import  as  the  favor  of  my  God  and  the  fate  of 
my  eternity,  I should  like  to  have  some  better  security 
than  my  own  feelings  which  may  be  delusive,  and  my  own 


200 


THE  DOCTRINE 


conjecture  which  may  be  rash  and  ignorant.  I have  no 
right  to  trust  to  my  own  conjectures  in  this,  and  far  less 
have  I any  such  right  in  the  face  of  the  authoritative  mes- 
sage which  God  has  sent  to  the  world  upon  this  very  sub- 
ject. An  actual  embassy  came  from  God  to  man  upon  an 
errand  of  reconciliation  about  2000  years  ago,  and  the  rec- 
ords of  this  embassy  have  come  down  to  us  collected  into 
a volume,  and  lying  within  the  reach  of  all  who  will  take 
the  trouble  of  stretching  forth  their  hand  to  it.  Why  spend 
my  strength  upon  any  conjecture  on  the  subject,  when  the 
obvious  expedient  of  consulting  the  record  is  before  me. 
Surely  what  God  says  of  Himself  is  of  higher  authority 
and  signification  than  what  I think  of  Him,  and  if  He  has 
chosen  to  reveal  not  merely  that  He  is  merciful,  but  that 
there  is  a way  in  which  He  has  chosen  to  be  so,  nothing 
remains  for  me  but  to  learn  of  that  way,  and  obediently  to 
walk  in  it.  If  He  says  there  is  no  other  name  given  under 
heaven  but  the  name  of  Jesus  ; if  He  says  that  it  is  only  in 
Christ  that  He  reconciles  the  world  to  Himself ; if  He  says 
that  redemption  is  only  in  Him  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to 
be  the  propitiation  through  faith  in  His  blood,  that  He  might 
be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  who  believeth  in  Jesus,  what 
have  I to  do  but  to  count  these  sayings  faithful  and  worthy 
of  all  acceptation?  I have  been  perhaps  too  long  of  com- 
ing to  this  conclusion,  and  adoptechtoo  circuitous  a line  of 
argument  to  bring  you  to  it ; and  while  I have  endeavored 
to  maintain  through  the  whole  of  this  process  the  forms  and 
the  phraseology  of  a philosophical  argument,  which  I know 
not  whether  I should  have  magnified,  I rejoice  to  think  that 
many  a simple  cottager  has  got  before  me,  and  that  under 
his  humble  roof  there  exists  a wisdom  of  a more  exalted 
kind  than  mere  philosophy  can  ever  reach — the  wisdom  of 
a Christian  who  loves  his  Bible,  and  rests  with  firm  assur- 
ance upon  his  Savjour.  “Father,  I thank  Thee  that  while 
Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  Thou 
hast  revealed  them  to  babes,  even  so,  Father,  for  so  it 
seemeth  good  in  Thy  sight.” 

My  next  observation  is  in  answer  to  this  question — You 


HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


201 


have  attempted  to  establish  the  fact  of  human  corruption 
— you  have  recommended  a simple  acquiescence  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  Saviour  ; now  what  becomes  of  the  corrup- 
tion after  this  ? Must  we  just  be  doing  with  it  as  a tre- 
mendous necessity  of  our  nature  bearing  down  every  power 
of  resistance,  and  against  which  it  were  in  vain  to  strug- 
gle? For  the  answer  to  this  question  I make  the  same 
reference  as  before  to  the  record.  He  who  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  is  a new  creature — sin  or  corruption  hath  no  more 
dominion  over  him,  and  the  very  want  which  constituted 
the  main  element  of  the  disease  is  made  up  to  him.  He 
wanted  the  love  of  God,  but  that  love  is  shed  abundantly 
into  the  heart  of  every  true  Christian  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  wants  the  love  of  his  neighbor,  but  God 
enters  into  covenant  with  all  who  acknowledge  His  Son 
and  embrace  the  Saviour  as  He  is  offered  to  them  in  the 
covenant — He  puts  this  law  in  their  hearts,  and  writes  it 
in  their  minds — He  works  in  them  and  dwells  in  them,  so 
that  He  becomes  their  God,  and  they  become  His  people. 
The  Holy  Spirit  is  given  to  them  who  ask  it  in  faith,  and 
the  habitual  prayer  of — Support  me  in  the  performance  of 
this  duty,  or  carry  me  in  safety  through  this  trial  of  my 
heart  and  my  principles — is  heard  with  acceptance.  The 
power  of  Christ  is  made  to  rest  on  those  who  look  to  Him, 
and  they  will  find  that  to  be  their  experience  which  Paul 
found  to  be  His — they  will  be  able  to  do  all  things  through 
Christ  strengthening  them.  Is  all  this,  strange  and  mys- 
terious and  foreign  to  the  general  style  of  your  concep- 
tions ? then,  my  brethren,  be  alarmed  for  your  safety.  It 
is  not  the  peculiar  notions  of  this  man,  nor  the  still  more 
peculiar  phraseology  of  that  man,  which  you  profess  to  be 
strange  to  you,  it  is  the  very  notions  and  the  very  phrase- 
ology .of  the  Bible,  and  you  are  bringing  yourself  under 
precisely  the  same  relationship  with  God  that  you  do  with 
a distant  acquaintance  whom  you  insult  by  sending  his  let- 
ter unopened,  or  despise,  by  suffering  it  to  lie  beside  you 
without  counting  it  worthy  of  a perusal.  Let  this  day  of 
fasting  bring  you  under  a conviction  of  your  sins,  and  let 


202 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


this  salutary  conviction  shut  you  up  to  the  only  remaining 
alternative — even  the  refuge  set  before  you  in  the  gospel. 
You  will  there  find  a free  offer  of  forgiveness  for  the  past, 
and  a provision  laid  before  you  by  which  all  who  believe 
are  carried  forward  to  amendment  and  progressive  virtue 
for  the  future.  It  is  open  to  all  and  at  the  taking  of  all,  but 
in  proportion  to  the  frankness  and  freeness  and  cordiality 
of  the  offer  will  be  the  severity  of  that  awful  threatening 
to  those  who  despise  it — How  shall  they  escape  if  they 
neglect  so  great  a salvation  ? 


SERMON  XIII. 

([Preached  at  Kilmany,  20th  March,  1814.  At  Glasgow,  in  February,  1817.] 
JOHN  XIV.  21. 

“ He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me ; and  he  that 
loveth  me  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to 
him.” 

It  were  well  if  we  could  strip  every  term,  and  every  pro- 
cess signified  by  that  term,  of  all  the  unnecessary  mysteri- 
ousness which  is  annexed  to  it.  To  manifest  is  to  show 
plainly ; and  the  question  comes  to  be,  In  what  sense  can 
an  invisible  being,  as  God  or  Jesus  Christ,  show  himself 
plainly  to  creatures  in  this  world  ? It  appears  to  me  that 
there  may  be  two  ways  of  it.  First,  you  all  understand 
what  it  is  to  have  the  conception  of  a distant  friend.  Your 
firm  belief  that  he  is  your  friend,  is  one  thing ; your  lively 
conception  of  him  is  another.  The  belief  may  remain 
steady — the  conception  may  vary  every  hour  in  clearness 
and  intensity.  Have  you  never  experienced  a livelier  con- 
ception at  one  time  than  another  of  his  unwearied  regard, 
of  his  trusty  attachment,  of  his  affectionate  looks,  of  his  be- 
nignant countenance?  Yes,  you  have;  and  in  those  mo- 
ments a finer  glow  of  tenderness  has  come  over  you,  and  a 
feeling  of  more  joyful  security  in  the  possession  of  his  friend- 
ship. Now,  the  same  God  who  can  endow  you  with  one 
faculty  can  endow  you  with  another,  or  bring  that  other, 
when  it  pleases  Him,  into  livelier  exercise.  The  same  God 
who  can  work  in  you  the  faith  and  conception  of  a distant 
friend,  can  work  in  you  the  faith  and  the  conception  of  Him- 
self. It  is  very  true  that  conception  may  often  outstrip  a 
well-grounded  faith ; but  God  can  prevent  this  ; He  can 
bring  the  one  under  the  control  of  the  other.  He  does  so 


204 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


in  the  case  of  your  friend,  and  your  conceptions  of  him, 
however  exquisite  and  lively,  are  restrained  by  the  evidence 
of  memory  from  running  into  wildness.  Your  conception 
of  him  may  almost  brighten  into  the  vivacity  of  sense,  and 
yet  you  may  conceive  no  more  of  him  than  what  you  know 
him  to  be,  and  what  you  remember  him  to  be.  And  so  of 
God.  Your  conception  of  Him  may  brighten  into  ecstasy, 
and  yet  be  restrained  from  running  into  any  false  or  distort- 
ed view  of  Him  by  the  control  of  a sober  and  rational  faith 
— even  that  faith  which  rests  upon  the  evidence  of  His 
word.  Now  this  faith  and  this  conception  of  God  are  both 
given  us  by  God.  In  so  doing,  God  shows  Himself  to  the 
soul  of  man.  He  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of 
darkness,  can  shine  in  our  hearts  to  give  us  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I am  not  fond  of  using  terms  which  might  not  be  readily 
apprehended  by  men  of  a mere  popular  understanding,  and 
should  like  to  feel  as  if  there  was  none  of  the  obscurity  of 
metaphysics  in  what  I say  when  I tell  you  of  the  distinc- 
tion between  faith  and  conception.  You  are  conceiving  a 
distinct  object  when  something  like  a sensible  representa- 
tion of  that  object  is  present  to  your  fancy.  When  that 
object  is  an  absent  friend,  the  conception  of  him  is  at  times 
so  lively  that  you  may  have  heard  people  say  in  such  a 
case,  “ I think  I see  him ; I can  figure  him  in  a very  lively 
and  impressive  manner  ; his  voice,  his  manner,  his  counte- 
nance, are  all  present  with  me.”  And  if  it  be  a voice  which 
you  know  never  speaks  of  you  but  with  tenderness — if  it 
be  a manner  which  indicates,  throughout  all  its  varieties,  a 
steady  and  unalterable  attachment  to  yourself — if  it  be  a 
countenance  that  never  beams  upon  you  but  with  a look  of 
benignity  and  regard,  then  it  is  evident  that  this  lively  con- 
ception will  have  an  exhilarating  influence  upon  your  spir- 
its ; you  will  have  a more  powerful  impression  of  sensible 
comfort,  in  as  far  as  it  is  dependent  upon  the  friendship  of 
him  who  is  thus  exhibited  in  a way  so  striking  to  the  eye  of 
your  imagination.  Such  a visitation  upon  your  mind  as 
this  will  be  a visitation  of  peace,  and  joy,  and  affection ; 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


105 

and  though  this  be  the  habitual  state  of  your  spirit  in  regard 
to  him  whom  you  love,  and  who  is  at  a distance  from  you. 
yet  will  those  periods  when  the  vision  of  his  excellences 
comes  in  all  its  bright  and  fascinating  array  into  remem- 
brance be  at  all  times  counted  by  you  as  those  most  pre- 
cious moments  of  delight,  when  his  value  is  most  strongly 
felt,  and  all  the  cordiality  of  his  regards  is  most  exquisitely 
rejoiced  in. 

Now,  my  brethren,  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  distinction 
between  this  lively  conception  of  him,  which,  in  point  of 
vivacity  and  affection,  borders  so  nearly  upon  a sensible 
representation,  and  that  steady  faith  by  which  the  real  ex- 
istence of  this  said  friend,  and  all  the  attributes  of  worth  and 
of  kindness  which  belong  to  him,  are  the  matters  of  your 
conviction,  the  former  may  fluctuate  from  one  day  to  an- 
other, and  from  one  hour  to  another,  while  the  latter  re- 
mains absolute  and  entire  at  all  times,  and  is  just  as  much 
the  object  of  thorough  belief  to-day  as  it  was  yesterday,  or 
as  it  will  be  to-morrow.  There  may,  perhaps,  be  no  one 
moment  in  which  I have  the  least  doubt  of  his  existence,  or 
there  may  be  no  one  moment  in  which  I have  the  least 
doubt  of  his  character,  either  as  it  regards  its  own  intrinsic 
merit  and  its  peculiar  aspect  of  tenderness  to  myself.  But 
with  all  this  unalterable  belief,  there  is  one  other  thing 
which  ever  alters,  and  may  be  in  a state  of  constant  fluctu- 
ation. There  are  moments  at  which  the  imagination  of  my 
friend  flits  before  my  inner  man  in  a brighter  perspective ; 
there  are  moments  in  which  I have  a readier  command  of 
his  every  feature  and  his  every  peculiarity ; there  are  mo- 
ments at  which  his  revered  person  or  his  smiling  aspect  of 
benignity  will  unaccountably  rush  upon  my  heart,  and  fill 
it  either  with  the  vivid  remembrance  of  former  joy  or  the 
bright  anticipations  of  future  intercourse.  Yes,  there  are 
such  moments  familiar  to  the  experience  of  many  a human 
being,  and  yet  they  may  be  succeeded  by  other  moments 
when — though  abandoned  by  all  this  cheering  imagery, 
and  left  to  the  dull  tenor  of  their  more  ordinary  thoughts — 
the  belief  that  your  friend  is,  and  that  he  has  the  same 


206 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


worth  of  character  and  the  same  warmth  of  attachment  as 
ever,  remains  an  unvaried  and  an  unshaken  element  with* 
m you. 

And  I trust  you  further  perceive  how,  though  this  con- 
ception may  bring  all  this  home  to  the  eye  of  your  mind  in 
a manner  more  pictorial  and  impressive  than  the  mere  be- 
lief of  it  can  do,  yet  it  by  no  means  necessarily  follows 
that  your  conception  outruns  your  belief.  It  is  the  office 
of  conception  to  place  your  friend,  according  to  all  the 
varied  attributes  which  belong  to  him,  in  a brighter  repre- 
sentation before  you,  but  still  it  may  not  represent  any 
more  than  you  know  to  be  true,  and  that,  as  a deliberate 
judgment  of  the  understanding,  you  think  you  have  good 
grounds  for  believing  to  be  true.  You  are  furnished  with 
the  proofs  of  memory  and  of  past  experience  for  believing 
the  reality  of  all  that  you  are  conceiving.  Conception 
may  not  add  a single  feature  to  its  original ; it  only  gives 
a clearer  and  more  impressive  view  of  all  the  features 
which  actually  belong  to  him.  It  may  not  suggest  to  you 
a single  idea  about  him  which  you  may  not  have  good 
reason  for  believing  to  be  just.  It  may  not  deal  in  any  of 
the  representations  of  falsehood,  while  it  brightens  and  sets 
into  more  forcible  display  before  you  the  representations 
of  truth. 

Now  the  same  is  true,  my  brethren,  of  the  invisible  beings 
and  doctrines  of  revelation.  I may  have  a steady  and  en- 
tire belief  in  the  power  of  God,  and  yet  the  conception  of 
that  power,  as  expatiating  over  all  the  elements  of  the 
moral  and  material  universe,  may  fill  and  elevate  my  im- 
agination, and  carry  a greater  movement  of  the  sublime 
along  with  it  at  one  time  than  another.  The  faith  may  be 
invariable,  but  the  conception  may  fluctuate.  The  same  is 
true  of  His  wisdom,  and  of  His  goodness,  and  of  His  holi- 
ness, and  of  His  truth.  Even  His  tender  mercy,  rejoicing 
over  all  His  works — from  which  I am  so  far  from  being 
excluded,  that,  through  the  word  of  the  gospel  salvation,  I 
am  invited  to  share  in  it — may  be  believed,  and  work  all 
the  essential  influences  of  belief  on  my  hopes  and  my  feel- 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


20? 


ings.  But  extreme  liveliness  of  conception  is  not  one  of 
the  essential  influences  of  faith.  It  is  very  liable  to  fluctua- 
tions. The  season  of  its  most  powerful  visitation  may  be  a 
season  of  rapture,  and  holy  joy,  and  delighted  communion 
with  God ; but  such  a season  may  pass  away,  and  yet  the 
belief  which  sustained  and  gave  solidity  to  the  whole  of 
this  process  may  be  as  stable  and  permanent  as  ever. 
These  periods  of  great  sensible  comfort,  and  of  lively  com- 
munion with  God,  will  be  esteemed  by  every  Christian  as 
the  brightest  and  noblest  intervals  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage. 
But  I would  have  you  understand  that,  even  after  the 
termination  of  one  such  interval,  there  may  be  a strong  and 
surviving  faith — ay,  a faith  giving  as  unequivocal  proof  of 
its  existence  and  its  vigor  as  at  the  time  of  its  more  brilliant 
and  ecstatic  operation. 

Now  I hold  it  of  importance  to  the  rationality  and  sound- 
ness of  this  whole  speculation,  to  observe  that  what  is 
true  of  the  conception  not  outrunning  the  belief  in  the  case 
of  an  earthly  friend,  but  merely  giving  a livelier  exhibition 
to  the  inner  man  of  what  was  upon  solid  and  legitimate 
grounds  already  believed,  holds  also  true  of  the  objects  of 
faith  which  are  set  before  us  in  the  New  Testament.  I 
may  have  a far  more  exquisite  and  affecting  sense  of 
God  as  my  reconciled  Father  at  one  time  than  at  another, 
and  yet  the  steady  faith  of  His  being  my  reconciled  Father 
may  never  abandon  me.  But  even  at  that  time,  when  my 
heart  is  filled  and  delighted  with  this  lively  sense  of  the 
tender  mercies  of  God,  I may  not  be  conceiving  anything 
more  than  what  I have  ground  for  believing  from  fair  and 
legitimate  sources  of  evidence.  All  that  the  conception 
may  do  is  not  to  add  to  my  knowledge  of  God,  or  give  me 
one  other  notion  respecting  Him  than  those  I had  before  ; 
but  it  may  brighten  and  make  clearer  to  my  imagination 
those  truths  which  I had  already  admitted  into  my  creed. 
Should,  for  example,  my  conception  put  any  other  feature 
upon  God  than  I find  applied  to  Him  in  His  own  revelation, 
then  would  it  be  outrunning  a sober  and  well-grounded 
faith,  and  well  may  I be  branded  as  a visionary  and  enthu- 


208 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


siastic  religionist.  But  should  my  conception  do  no  more 
than  give  me  a more  adequate  impression  of  these  things 
respecting  God  which  are  clearly  set  down  in  the  declara- 
tions of  His  word  ; should  it  so  fill  me  with  a sense  of  His 
power  as  to  give  a more  solemnizing  impression  of  it  in  my 
spirit,  or  sq  fill  me  with  a sense  of  His  goodness  in  Christ 
as  to  make  me  rejoice  with  a joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory ; or  so  fill  me  with  a sense  of  eternity  as  to  make  me 
sit  lighter  than  ever  to  all  the  vexations  of  time,  and  give 
me  the  buoyancy  of  an  animating  independence  on  all 
chances  of  life  and  of  fortune — why,  my  brethren,  there  is 
nothing  wild  or  visionary  in  all  this.  There  is  no  setting 
before  me  of  any  truth  not  to  be  found  in  the  record. 
There  is  only  an  investing  of  such  truths  with  that  force 
and  that  color  which  give  them  an  ascendency  over  all  my 
feelings  that  is  more  than  ever  in  proportion  to  the  vast  im- 
portance which  belongs  to  them.  There  is  nothing,  surely, 
here  to  provoke  the  contempt  of  those  who  sneer  at  what 
they  call  the  beatific  visions  of  Methodism.  In  such  visions 
as  these  there  is  not  one  ingredient  admitted  upon  which 
the  word  of  God  does  not  put  the  stamp  and  the  sanction 
of  credibility.  It  is  a vision,  in  short,  made  up  of  the  solid 
materials  of  faith  ; and,  during  the  whole  process  of  such  a 
manifestation,  so  far  from  anything  being  told*  us  that  is  not 
to  be  fqund  in  the  Bible,  all  the  manifestation  consists  in  this, 
that  by  it  the  Bible  or  the  field  of  revelation  becomes  ar- 
rayed with  a brighter  and  a more  luminous  clearness  than 
to  our  eyes  is  habitually  spread  over  it. 

But  there  is  still  another  kind  of  manifestation.  In  the 
first  way  of  it,  God  gives  a clearer  and  a livelier  percep- 
tion of  Himself  to  the  soul.  In  the  second  way  of  it,  which 
I am  now  referring  to,  God  may  work  such  effects  in  the 
soul  of  man  as  may  carry  along  with  them  the  evident 
marks  of  His  special  and  distinguishing  favor.  You  may 
experience  in  yourselves  a growing  concern  about  eternity ; 
a growing  sense  of  your  own  sinfulness  ; a growing  desire 
after  the  fullness  of  Christ ; a growing  dependence  upon 
Him  as  all  your  salvation ; a growing  distrust  of  yourselves 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


209 


and  joy  in  the  Savior ; and,  under  the  never-failing  effect 
of  this  new  attitude  of  the  soul,  a growing  advancement  in 
the  virtues  of  the  new  creature,  and  a growing  conformity 
to  the  pattern  of  worth  and  loveliness  set  before  us  in  the 
gospel.  Now  this  is  a work  of  grace  going  on  in  your 
hearts,  and  it  is  of  God.  Others  may  see  it,  and  it  may  be 
to  them  a manifest  token  of  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God. 
Yet  I would  not  say  that  there  was  any  manifestation  to 
you  in  all  this,  till  the  work  of  grace  become  evident  to 
yourselves.  There  are  differences  in  this  respect.  With 
some  the  work  may  be  going  on  for  years  before  they  see 
the  hand  of  God  in  it,  or  construe  it  into  a token  for  good, 
and  they  are  doomed  to  an  awful  and  a long-continued 
sense  of  guilt  and  abandonment  before  they  can  say  with 
the  apostle,  Hereby  know  we  that  God  abideth  in  us,  by  the 
Spirit  which  He  hath  given  us.  Others  may  rejoice  from 
the  very  outset  of  their  conversion,  and  the  very  first  im- 
pressions of  grace  may  be  attended  with  such  a manifesta- 
tion of  the  Spirit  as  to  make  it  evident  to  themselves  that 
the  good  hand  of  God  is  upon  them.  We  are  not  to  con 
demn  this  joy  as  premature.  Paul  felt  this  joy  at  the  ver) 
beginning  of  the  good  work  upon  the  souls  of  his  disciples 
and  he  communicated  this  joy  to  them,  and  so  led  them  to 
share  in  it,  and  they  could  not  but  feel  a confidence  that  it 
was  God  who  was  working  in  them,  when  their  revered 
apostle  told  them  that  he  was  confident  of  this  very  thing, 
that  God,  who  had  begun  a good  work  in  them,  would  per- 
form it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  sense  of 
God’s  agency  in  the  matter  which  makes  every  new  ad- 
vance in  the  accomplishments  of  the  gospel  a manifestation 
of  God  ; and  when  Paul  addressed  Timothy — both  of  whom 
were  far  advanced  in  established  Christianity — he  did  not 
barely  say  that  they  had  obtained  a spirit  of  love,  and  of 
power,  and  of  a sound  mind,  but  that  they  had  obtained  it 
from  God  ; for  God  has  not  given  to  us  the  spirit  of  fear, 
but  of  power,  and  of  love,  and  of  a sound  mind. 

So  much  for  the  two  kinds  of  manifestation : one  con- 
sisting in  a clear  and  direct  view  of  God — the  other  in  the 


210 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


consciousness  of  His  good  work  going  on  in  our  souls. 
And  we  may  add,  that  the  impenitent  at  times  experience 
manifestations  of  God  which  are  counterparts  to  these ; 
that  at  one  time  He  manifests  Himself  in  wrath  to  their 
consciences ; and  that  as  He  looked  from  the  pillar  of 
cloud  and  fire  upon  the  Egyptians  and  troubled  them,  so 
the  angry  God  looketh  forth  upon  the  wicked,  and  stands 
before  them  in  all  the  majesty  of  offended  justice.  At  an- 
other time  He  makes  them  to  feel  the  progress  of  their 
guilt ; how  their  souls  are  hardening  and  getting  seared ; 
how  a desperate  obstinacy  of  character  is  growing  upon 
them  ; how  every  step  they  are  taking  carries  them  further 
in  alienation  from  God ; and  thus,  even  in  this  world,  He 
sends  terrors  to  their  hearts,  and  gleams  a deep  and  awful 
foreboding  over  their  infatuated  way. 

In  my  present  discourse  I confine  myself  to  the  promised 
manifestations  of  my  text ; and  there  are  two  sets  of  hearers 
who  need  to  be  instructed  upon  this  point.  The  first  are 
those  who  cannot  believe  that  there  is  any  reality  in  those 
manifestations,  and  who  think  that  there  is  mysticism  in  the 
very  term.  These  are  they  who  associate  all  that  is  unreal 
with  all  that  is  invisible  ; and  yet  God  is  invisible,  and  they 
who  live  in  fellowship  with  God  must  live  in  the  constant 
enjoyment  of  a spiritual  manifestation.  The  Spirit  is  in- 
visible, and  they  who  rejoice  in  the  Spirit  rejoice  in  that 
of  which  they  do  not  know  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it 
goeth.  The  varied  objects  of  faith  are  invisible,  and  they 
who  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight,  live  under  the  power 
of  invisibles.  All  that  gives  rapture  to  a triumphant  death- 
bed is  invisible ; and  we  have  the  authority  of  an  Apostle 
for  the  substance  and  the  truth  which  lie  in  the  joyful  ex- 
clamations of  a dying  Christian. — O ye  men  of  the  world, 
who  look  upon  the  spiritual  exercises  of  the  Christian  as  so 
many  shadowy  illusions,  it  is  you,  and  not  they,  who  live 
under  the  government  of  shadows.  You  look  no  further 
than  to  the  figures  upon  that  pictured  screen  which  hides 
God  and  eternity  from  the  eye  of  your  senses ; but  on  that 
day  when  the  earth  is  burnt  up,  and  the  heavens  pass  away 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


21 1 


as  a scroll,  this  screen  shall  be  withdrawn,  and  the  awful 
realities  on  the  other  side  of  it  will  attest  that  they  alone 
live  wisely  in  the  world  who  live  by  the  power  of  what  is 
unseen  and  eternal. 

But  there  is  another  set  of  hearers,  and  to  them  I chiefly 
address  myself:  those  who  do  believe  that  there  is  a re- 
ality in  those  manifestations,  but  feel  how  miserably  short 
they  are  in  the  experience  of  them — who  long  for  the  light 
of  God’s  countenance,  but  have  not  yet  tasted  what  it  is  to 
enjoy  it — who  know  that  there  is  a truth  and  a power  in  the 
promise  of  light  and  peace,  and  increase  in  the  knowledge 
and  fellowship  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son,  but  cannot  say 
that  the  promise  has  ever  been  realized  upon  them — who 
stand  at  a distance  from  the  joys  and  exercises  of  the  inner 
man,  and  are  oppressed  with  a sense  of  that  darkness  as  to 
spiritual  objects  which  overspreads  all  their  perceptions  and 
all  their  faculties.  I shall,  in  the  first  place,  attempt  a rapid 
description  of  the  state  of  their  minds ; and  I shall,  in  the 
second  place,  lay  before  you  the  process  of  my  text,  which 
carries  all  who  describe  it  to  the  manifestations  they  long 
for. 

First,  then,  as  to  the  state  of  their  minds.  There  is  a 
general  dimness  hanging  over  all  their  conceptions  of  those 
invisible  realities  with  which  a spiritual  man  is  conversant. 
They  believe  in  God,  but  they  want  a lively  sense  and  im- 
pression of  Him.  They  believe  in  Christ,  but  they  cannot 
get  that  clear  view  of  Him  which  they  aspire  after.  They 
believe  that  God  is  accessible  to  all  through  Him,  and  this 
belief  operates  so  far  that  when  they  approach  the  Father 
it  is  in  the  name  of  the  Son,  but  they  do  not  feel  a lively 
confidence  even  in  this  way  of  access  to  God.  They  may 
not  want  faith,  but  they  want  liveliness  of  conception,  and 
we  all  know  that  conception  may  become  so  distinct  and 
so  impressive  as  to  approach  to  the  nature  of  vision.  Now 
you  can  all  understand  that  to  hear  of  the  friendship  of  a 
distant  acquaintance  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  even  though 
you  have  full  faith  in  the  testimony,  has  not  so  cheering  an 
influence  upon  you  as  when  you  see  him  beside  you,  and 


212 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


witness  with  your  own  eyes  an  attachment  full  of  tender- 
ness, and  a countenance  full  of  benignity.  And  so  of  God. 
The  days  are  coming  when  He  shall  tabernacle  with  men, 
when  the  pure  in  heart  shall  see  Him,  and  shall  rejoice  in 
His  presence.  Could  we  only  catch  a lively  conception  of 
God  in  Christ,  we  should  have  a foretaste  of  the  coming  joy. 
But  many  labor  under  a dullness  of  conception,  and  from 
them  God  is  hiding  His  countenance.  They  may  believe, 
but  they  have  no  joy  in  believing.  They  lament  their  dark- 
ness, and  are  like  to  give  way  to  gloomy  forebodings.  They 
lament  that  while  all  is  clearness  to  the  eye  of  the  body,  all 
is  dimness  to  the  spiritual  eye ; and  that,  while  the  living 
scenery  around  them  falls  with  so  distinct  an  impression 
upon  their  senses,  the  God  who  actuates  and  animates  the 
whole  sits  behind  an  impenetrable  curtain,  and  they  cannot 
apprehend  Him. 

Now  it  may  help,  on  the  one  hand,  to  quiet  their  alarms, 
when  they  are  told  that  they  are  perhaps  aiming  at  an  im- 
possibility, for  God  is  the  Being  whom  no  man  can  ap- 
proach unto ; and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  help  to  assist 
their  conceptions,  when  they  are  told  that  God’s  embodied 
Son  was  the  brightness  of  His  Father’s  glory?  and  the  ex- 
press image  of  His  person — that  in  Him  dwelt  all  the  full- 
ness of  the  Godhead  bodily,  and  that,  therefore,  when  they 
want  a lively  impression  of  the  loving-kindness  of  God,  they 
should  think  of  the  kindness  which  fell  from  the  Savior’s 
lips,  and  of  the  love  which  beamed  from  His  countenance. 
But  even  this  view  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ  may  be  withheld  from  them.  They  want  lofty  and 
distinct  conceptions  of  the  Savior ; they  have  not  yet  ob- 
tained the  promised  manifestations  ; they  may  have  heard 
Christ  speaking  peace  to  them  in  His  Word,  but  they  have 
not  seen  Him  looking  peace  to  them  with  the  light  of  His 
countenance. 

The  effect  of  all  this  may  be  a want  of  sensible  comfort. 
If  the  perfection  of  saints  in  heaven  is  to  rejoice  in  the  fel- 
lowship of  God,  how  can  I be  preparing  for  this  inheritance 
who  have  so  little  of  this  joy  and  this  fellowship  on  earth  ? 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


213 


To  be  made  meet  for  a place  there,  I should  be  making 
progress  here  in  the  tastes,  the  capacities,  and  the  employ- 
ments of  glorified  spirits.  Now  what  a gloomy  impression 
it  must  have  upon  my  prospects,  when  I feel  within  myself 
that  all  this  is  shrouded  in  darkness  from  me — that  it  in- 
spires me  with  no  clear  view  and  no  lively  emotion;  and 
that  while,  like  other  beings  who  are  of  the  earth,  earthy,  I 
can  perceive  well  enough,  and  think  truly  enough,  and  feel 
a keen  enough  interest  among  the  visible  scenes  and  objects 
around  me,  I feel  as  if  I had  no  discernment  of  the  things 
of  the  Spirit  of  God — that  every  effort  I make  to  conceive 
of  them  is  powerless — and  that  when  I look  toward  them,  I 
see  them  wrapped  in  some  deep  and  awful  obscurity  which 
I cannot  dissipate. 

I might  acquiesce  in  this  want  of  capacity  for  spiritual 
contemplations,  if  I thought  it  were  the  necessary  or  uni- 
versal lot  of  Christians  in  the  world,  and  that  they  were 
such  as  eye  could  not  see  nor  ear  hear,  neither  could  it  en- 
ter into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  ; but  when  I hear 
Christians  saying,  and  with  authority  too,  that  God  hath 
revealed  them  unto  us  by  His  Spirit,  I am  led  to  the  con- 
clusion that  this  is  a work  of  the  Spirit  which  I have  had 
no  share  in  ; and  that,  while  others  experience  the  light  and 
the  triumph  of  most  animating  manifestations,  I am  left  to 
wander  a melancholy  outcast,  unblest  by  the  influences  of 
heaven,  and  an  utter  stranger  to  the  perception  of  its  joys. 

It  aggravates  my  fears  when  I examine  the  other  evi- 
dences of  grace  which  are  more  at  hand.  How  can  I be 
growing  in  the  love  of  God  when  I have  no  satisfying  view 
of  His  countenance?  I may  be  constitutionally  generous 
and  upright,  but  how  can  I be  growing  in  that  Christian 
love  of  my  neighbor  which  is  like  unto  the  love  of  God  ? 
Where  is  my  strength  for  the  performance  of  duty  while 
all  is  darkness  around  me,  and  all  is  languor  and  hopeless- 
ness within  me  ? I may  have  much  effort,  and  much 
thought,  and  much  curiosity;  but,  sunk  in  this  sorrow  of 
withdrawment  from  light  and  from  comfort,  I must  be  run- 
ning in  uncertainty,  and  fighting  as  one  that  beateth  the 


214 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


air ; and  what  with  some  parts  of  my  conduct  which  I 
know  to  be  sins,  and  other  parts  of  it  which  I am  not  sure 
to  be  graces,  I feel  lost  and  bewildered  in  a path  that  is  un- 
known to  me. 

I shall  conclude  this  first  head  with  observing,  in  the  first 
place,  that  the  manifestations  of  my  text,  if  not  enjoyed,  will 
be  much  longed  after  by  all  who  have  begun  to  contract  a 
spiritual  taste ; who  have  begun  to  feel  that  there  is  no 
sufficiency  for  them  in  the  things  of  this  world ; who  are 
dying  to  the  matters  of  sense  and  of  time,  and  are  groping 
their  way,  though  perhaps  in  darkness  and  bewilderment, 
after  an  interest  and  a friendship  with  God.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  psalmist,  they  say  with  their  hearts,  “Who 
will  show  us  any  good  ? Lord,  lift  upon  us  the  light  of 
Thy  countenance.”  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water- 
brooks,  so  thirst  they  after  God.  If  there  be  no  desire  after 
these  hidden  enjoyments  of  the  Christian  life,  I see  not  how 
there  is  any  love  at  all  to  the  invisible  Father  of  the  spirits 
of  all  flesh.  Sure  I am  that  in  the  matter  of  earthly  friend- 
ship there  is  something  more  aspired  after  than  the  mere 
enjoyment  of  a firm  confidence  in  the  regards  of  each  other, 
while  the  parties  stand  at  a wide  and  personal  distance. 
There  is  a longing  for  personal  intercourse.  There  is  an 
aptitude  for  each  other’s  company.  There  is  a desiro  to 
carry  forward  the  mere  intercourse  of  mind  from  the  calm- 
ness of  a mental  conviction  in  the  good-will  of  each  other 
to  the  vivacity  of  near  and  sensible  society.  And  as  surely, 
if  there  be  a real  love  to  God,  will  there  be  a delight  in  com- 
munion with  Him ; and  the  delight  will  just  be  the  more 
exquisite  that  it  be  carried  forward  from  the  communion  of 
a mere  fixed  and  settled  belief  to  the  communion  of  a near 
and  impressive  manifestation ; and  the  more  your  concep- 
tion of  God  approaches  to  the  intensity  of  sense,  the  more 
will  be  your  delight  that  He,  your  friend,  is  brought  so 
present  and  so  near  to  you  ; and  while  the  profane  laugh  at 
all  this  as  an  enthusiastic  vision,  and  the  lukewarm,  with 
their  cold  and  established  decencies,  are  just,  in  heart  and 
in  affection,  as  far  from  God  as  are  the  former,  be  you  as- 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


215 


sured,  my  brethren,  that  you  will  never  enjoy  heaven  here- 
after if  you  have  no  relish  for  the  enjoyment  of  heaven 
here  ; and  let  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son  ; 
‘md  a clear  perception  of  the  character  of  God  ; and  a re- 
joicing sense  of  His  mercy  in  Christ  Jesus;  and  a bright 
overpowering  impression  of  the  grace  and  the  majesty  ofl 
His  character ; and,  in  fact,  all  those  near  views  of  Him, 
and  strong  feelings  towards  Him,  and  that  intimate  sense 
of  His  presence  which  comes  from  a close  and  impressive 
manifestation  of  God  to  the  soul — let  these,  I say,  be  branded 
as  they  may  with  the  epithets  of  extravagance  and  enthu- 
riasm,  and  as  if  they  marked  a man  who  had  let  go  his  hold 
of  all  the  ordinary  principles  of  the  world,  and  wandered  in 
a region  bf  fanatical  illusion  and  of  mystic  reverie — be  as- 
sured, my  brethren,  in  spite  of  all  this,  that  these  are  the 
very  delights  and  exercises  of  Paradise,  and  the  very  enjoy- 
ments which  shed  over  the  eternity  of  the  redeemed  all  its 
blessedness  and  all  its  glory. 

And,  secondly — though  it  should  be  anticipating  a little 
what  is  to  come  afterwards — I know  that  in  many  instances 
the  distinction  is  not  adverted  to  between  a real  faith  in  the 
truths  of  the  gospel,  and  a lively  exhilarating  conception  of 
them.  Now  it  is  by  faith  that  ye  are  saved  ; and  there- 
fore it  is  that  there  are  people  who  are  ever  endeavoring 
to  work  up  their  feelings  to  a high  pitch  of  pleasurable  ele- 
vation, and  are  constantly  striving  after  sensible  comfort 
and  founding  the  most  melancholy  conclusions  upon  their 
want  of  it,  and  think  that  surely,  as  they  have  no  lively 
manifestation  of  the  truth,  they  can  have  no  belief  in  it,  and 
are  therefore  destitute  of  the  main-spring  and  the  essential 
element  of  salvation.  I trust  I have  said  as  much  as  may 
convince  you  that  faith  and  conception  are  two  different 
things  ; that  while  the  former  is  the  principle  on  which  the 
salvation  of  a sinner  hinges,  the  latter  affords  to  him  those 
enjoyments  which  are  most  congenial  to  every  mind  that 
feels  the  world  to  be  a pilgrimage,  and  heaven  to  be  its 
home,  and  the  exercises  of  heaven  to  be  whai  they  have  a 
growing  taste  and  a growing  capacity  for  I trust 


2 16 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


that  it  will  be  made  to  appear  how  there  are  other  fruits 
and  evidences  of  faith  than  the  clear  and  lively  discernment 
of  the  spiritualities  of  another  world  ; that  in  the  midst  of 
depression  there  may  be  a strong  exercise  of  faith  ; that 
under  the  hidings  of  God’s  countenance  there  may  be  a most 
resolute  and  inflexible  faith  ; that  under  the  operation  of 
languid  and  overborne  faculties  there  may  be  a steady 
operation  of  faith ; that,  with  an  utter  confusion  and  misti- 
ness of  the  mind  about  what  is  unknown,  there  may  be  a 
most  determinate  cleaving  of  the  mind  to  what  is  known; 
that,  laboring  under  the  want  of  manifestation,  there  may  at 
the  same  time  be  the  having  of  the  commandments  of 
Christ,  and  the  keeping  of  them  ; that  previous  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  last  clause  of  my  text,  in  which  our 
Savior  promises  to  manifest  Himself,  there  may  be  a process 
going  on  with  the  believer  which  our  Savior  will  interpret 
into  an  evidence  of  love  for  Himself,  and  for  which  He 
has  given  the  assurance  that  His  Father  will  love  him  back 
again,  and,  to  encourage  him  in  the  path  of  obedience, 
promises  that  He  will  make  all  his  darkness  to  emerge  in 
the  light  of  a cheering  manifestation. 

I now  come  to  the  second  head  of  discourse,  under  which  I 
shall  attempt  to  lay  before  you  the  process  of  my  text,  which 
all  who  describe  arrive  at  the  promised  manifestations. 

When  fatigued  and  disappointed  by  the  utter  fruitlessness 
of  all  my  exertions,  it  is  most  important  to  be  told,  as  I am 
in  the  text  before  me,  that  the  light  I am  in  quest  of  is  at 
the  giving  of  the  Savior.  This  is  confirmed  by  another 
passage  in  the  New  Testament,  where  it  is  said  that  Christ 
shall  give  the  light.  One  may  arrive  at  a quiescent  belief, 
but  he  will  never  arrive  at  clearness  or  vivacity  of  concep- 
tion, or  even  at  a right  belief  of  the  New  Testament,  by  the 
mere  steps  of  an  argument.  The  wisdom  of  this  world  may 
enable  me  to  enroll  a truth  even  of  the  Bible  among  the  ar- 
ticles of  my  speculative  creed ; but  so  to  impress  it  upon 
my  heart  as  to  serve  the  purpose  of  comfort  or  direction, 
is  the  work  of  a higher  hand.  I now  understand  how  truth, 
as  to  all  its  practical  uses,  may  be  hidden  from  the  wise  and 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS, 


217 


the  prudent,  and  revealed  unto  babes  ; and  when  I turn 
from  the  parade  of  demonstration,  and  wait  in  dependence 
and  prayer  upon  Him  who  is  the  light  of  the  world,  I see 
how,  unless  a man  be  converted  and  become  as  a little  child, 
he  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  Meanwhile, 
I learn  that  so  long  as  I toiled  separately  from  Christ,  and 
out  of  the  way  which  He  prescribed  to  us,  I was  toiling  in 
vain — that  I must  keep  by  Him  as  the  Being  who  retains  in 
His  custody  the  light  I am  in  quest  of — and  giving  up  all  ex- 
periments of  my  own,  I must  just  adhere,  and  that  most  scru- 
pulously, to  the  line  which  He  has  chosen  to  lay  down  for  me. 

Be  assured,  my  brethren,  that  if  the  saving  faith  of  the 
New  Testament  be  not  of  ourselves,  but  the  gift  of  God,  no 
effort  of  ours  which  does  not  recognize  the  sovereignty  of 
God  in  this  matter  will  ever  conduct  us  to  this  faith,  make 
the  effort  as  strenuously  as  you  like.  Bring  to  it  all  the 
powers  of  a most  argumentative  and  penetrating  under- 
standing— betake  yourselves  to  every  such  expedient  for 
working  within  you  a belief  of  the  truths  of  the  Christian 
revelation,  as  you  make  use  of  in  working  within  you  a 
belief  of  the  truths  of  political  economy,  or  of  the  physical 
and  mathematical  sciences — there  may  be  some  result,  I 
grant  you,  from  such  an  intellectual  exercise;  your  ob- 
jections may  be  silenced,  and  your  judgment  be  subdued 
out  of  all  its  resistance  to  the  truth,  and  your  active  hos- 
tility against  it  be  disarmed,  and  the  mind  be  brought  into 
the  posture  of  resting  in  the  conclusion  that  Christianity  is 
an  authentic  religion  from  heaven.  And  yet,  my  brethren, 
the  faith  which  you  think  to  be  in  you  may,  in  fact,  not 
be  the  saving  faith  of  the  gospel  at  all.  When  I read 
that  gospel,  I see  fruits  and  influences  assigned  to  faith 
which,  in  many  thousand  instances  of  speculative  acquies- 
cence, I cannot  perceive  to  be  realized  on  the  heart  or  on 
the  life  of  those  who  profess  it.  The  faith  of  the  gospel  is 
a something  different  from  this,  for  it  is  a something  which 
comes  out  of  a new  heart — it  is  a something  which  works 
by  love — it  is  a something  which  overcometh  the  world — • 
it  is  a something  which  brings  affection  and  practice,  and 
VOL.  vi. — K 


218 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


a new  aim,  and  a holy  walk,  and  consolation  along  with  it. 
That  faith  about  the  matters  of  Christianity  which  the  power 
of  argument  hath  wrought,  and  wrought  just  in  the  same 
way  that  it  works  a faith  in  the  matters  of  philosophy,  is 
positively  a something  belonging  to  another  class  of  prin- 
ciples altogether  from  the  faith  which  availeth ; and  we 
are,  therefore,  not  to  wonder  that  it  should  differ  from  the 
other  in  the  steps  by  which  it  is  brought  into  existence — 
that  there  should  be  a peculiarity  about  the  way  in  which 
it  originates — that  the  mere  operation  of  these  expedients, 
which  will  suffice  for  the  production  of  the  former,  should 
be  altogether  inadequate  to  the  production  of  the  latter ; 
and  it  is  under  the  power  of  these  considerations — under 
the  positive  experience  of  the  insufficiency  of  bare  argu- 
ment— under  a feeling  that  a naked  intellectual  acquies- 
cence in  the  truth  may  be  utterly  fruitless,  and  have  not 
one  particle  of  the  life  and  influence  of  the  great  gospel 
principle  belonging  to  it,  that  I count  it  a saying  worthy 
of  all  acceptation,  that  faith  is  not  of  ourselves — that  it  is 
wrought  in  us  with  power — that  it  is  the  gift  of  God. 

Now  it  is  very  true  that  God  may  be  said  to  manifest 
Himself  in  the  act  of  giving  faith,  and,  further,  to  manifest 
Himself  in  the  act  of  increasing  the  faith  that  we  have  al- 
ready received.  But,  referring  to  what  has  been  already 
said  about  the  distinction  between  faith  and  conception,  1 
do  not  think  that  invariably  the  one  or  the  other  of  these 
forms  all  the  manifestations  of  my  text.  I can  figure  to 
myself  a dullness  of  conception  when  there  is  no  abatement 
of  the  principle  of  faith,  and  the  liveliness  of  conception 
with  no  additional  vigor  given  to  that  principle.  The  truths 
of  the  gospel  may  be  brought  more  clearly  and  more  strik- 
ingly home  to  the  discernment  of  the  mind  at  one  time  than 
at  another ; and  if  these  truths  relate  to  the  character  of 
God,  or.  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  He  hath  sent,  they  may  ap- 
pear to  the  eye  of  the  understanding  more  brightly  than 
before  in  the  features  of  truth,  or  holiness,  or  kindness,  or 
long-suffering.  In  these  cases  the  soul  is  enjoying  a clearer 
manifestation  of  the  Father  or  of  the  Son — is  exercising  a 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


219 


closer  fellowship  with  them — is  receiving  through  the  me- 
dium of  its  mental  perceptions  a foretaste  of  those  pure  and 
affectionate  transports  which  will  be  perfected  in  heaven 
when  the  Divinity  shall  reveal  Himself  in  all  the  glories  of 
an  immediate  presence  to  His  worshipers — when  all  those 
features  of  grace  and  of  majesty  which  belong  to  Him  shall 
be  placed  before  them  in  visible  and  direct  contemplation, 
and  they  shall  reap  through  all  the  ages  of  a secure  and  re- 
joicing eternity  the  reward  of  the  pure  in  heart — they  shall 
see  God.  The  glass  which  now  intercepts  from  the  eye 
of  the  mind  the  realities  of  the  future  world  is  so  dim  that 
we  see*  them  but  darkly,  and  no  power  or  exertion  of  our 
own  can  brighten  or  improve  its  transparency.  But  what 
we  cannot  do  for  ourselves  Christ  can  do  for  us.  He  ex- 
pressly claims  for  Himself  in  the  text  the  sovereignty  and 
the  control  in  the  work  of  those  manifestations.  He  says, 
I will  manifest  myself ; and,  in  so  doing.  He  gives  an  im- 
portant practical  direction  to  the  man  who  seeks  and  is  in 
earnest  after  the  light  which  he  does  not  yet  enjoy.  He 
tells  him  what  surely  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  him 
to  know,  and  what  may  have  an  essential  influence  in  guid- 
ing him  to  the  manifestations  which  he  aspires  after.  He 
tells  him  that  his  own  native  and  unassisted  powers  will 
never  lead  him  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  object.  He 
gives  him  to  understand  that  the  manifestations  he  is  in 
quest  of  are  in  the  hand  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  if  there  be 
any  difference  in  point  of  effect  between  the  result  of  the 
process  carried  on  without  any  reference  to  Him  who  alone 
can  give  to  that  process  all  its  efficacy,  and  the  result  of  a 
process  carried  on  in  obedience  to  Him  with  whom  the  ef- 
ficacious influence  is  deposited,  the  informations  of  the  text 
point  the  way  by  which  this  difference  may  be  realized. 

We  already,  then,  know  as  much  as  should  serve  to  light- 
en the  dark  and  melancholy  inquirer  of  some  of  his  anxie- 
ties. Hitherto  he  has  missed  his  object ; but  perhaps  the 
reason  of  this  is  that  he  was  out  of  the  way  to  it.  From 
the  moment  that  this  is  suggested,  a prospect  of  relief  be- 
gins to  dawn  upon  him,  and  the  prospect  is  inconceivably 


220 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


brightened  when  an  infallible  guide  comes  forward  with  the 
offer  of  his  direction  and  his  services.  It  is  well  that  he  is 
casting  about  for  light,  for  this  proves  him  to  be  awakened  ; 
and  to  cheer  and  sustain  him  before  he  enters  upon  the  way 
to  it,  let  me  whisper  one  of  the  never-failing  promises  into 
his  ear : Awake,  O sinner,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light. 

First,  then,  it  appears  from  the  text,  and  a verse  a little 
below,  that  the  manifestations  promised  by  the  Savior  are 
given  to  those  who  love  the  Savior.  The  text  I have  al- 
ready set  before  you  ; the  other  verse  is  an  answer  to  a 
question  respecting  these  manifestations : “ If  a man  love  me, 
he  will  keep  my  words  ; and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and 
we  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him.” 

This  may  throw  the  dark  and  bewildered  Christian  at  as 
great  a distance  from  his  object  as  ever.  He  replies,  “ O, 
but  I do  not  love  Him  ; and  when  I try  I find  that  I cannot 
love  Him.”  The  truth  is,  that  he  cannot  summon  up  Jesus 
Christ  as  a lovely  and  engaging  object  to  the  eye  of  his 
mind.  He  has  not  yet  arrived  at  such  manifestations,  and 
his  poor  faculties  cannot  clothe  the  Savior  in  the  vivid  col- 
ors of  reality  ; he  cannot  form  Him  into  a picture  on  which 
his  fancy  may  rest  and  be  gratified.  This  is  his  aim ; but 
Jesus  Christ  chooses  to  humble  him  into  a conviction  of  his 
vanity  ; He  checks  his  adventurous  flight  into  the  region  of 
invisibles.  The  man  wras  daring  enough  to  carry  his  cre- 
ative imagination  into  the  other  world ; but  he  found  no 
rest  to  the  sole  of  his  foot,  and,  baffled  in  the  enterprise,  he 
falls  from  it  in  despair.  Why,  he  is  precipitating  the  busi- 
ness. To  use  a homely  phrase — and  let  us  not  disdain  to 
press  any  phrase  into  the  service  of  illustrating  a subject  so 
deeply  interesting  to  all  of  us — he  is  cutting  before  the 
point.  The  manifestations  which  he  must  be  content  to 
wait  for,  and  to  work  for  in  the  prescribed  way,  he  attempts 
to  form  by  the  creative  energy  of  his  own  talents.  Christ 
will  give  him  light  if  he  do  as  he  is  bid  ; but  this  high  at- 
tribute of  commanding  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness  he 
must  not  arrogate  to  himself.  Now  this  is  what  he  is  do- 
ing when  he  sets  up  his  own  arbitrary  test  of  love  to  the 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


221 


Savior;  and  no  wonder  if,  upon  the  application  of  this  test 
to  the  state  of  his  own  heart,  he  is  heard  to  exclaim,  “ I can- 
not love  Him  ;”  but  give  up  your  own  test,  and  take  to  the 
test  which  your  Savior  lays  down  for  you.  It  is  a familiar 
and  a practicable  test,  and  is  well  calculated  to  check  the 
aerial  fancy  which  has  hitherto  occupied  and  misled  you. 
“ He  who  hath  my  commandments,  who  hath  received  them, 
and  knowing  them  to  be  mine,  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that 
loveth  me.” 

Let  us  go,  then,  to  the  commandments  ; and  though  we 
lost  ourselves  in  the  unauthorized  exercises  of  fancy,  we 
shall  not  be  so  apt  to  lose  ourselves  in  the  obviousness  of 
a prescribed  task.  We  shall  there  find  a plain  and  intelli- 
gible way  to  the  thing  we  are  in  quest  of;  and  Christ,  at 
His  good  time,  will  give  us  these  manifestations,  which  it  is 
our  duty  patiently  to  wait  for,  if  we  firmly  persevere  in  the 
course  that  leads  to  them. 

But  let  us  descend  to  particulars — let  us  take  up  the  very 
first  commandment  of  this  chapter,  “ Ye  believe  in  God, 
believe  also  in  me.”  Some  may  think  that  we  have  not 
yet  succeeded  in  clearing  away  the  darkness ; for,  under 
the  remaining  influence  of  the  error  which  I have  been  at- 
tempting to  expose,  they  may  think  that  to  believe  in  Christ, 
Christ  should  stand  revealed  to  the  eye  of  their  mind  in  all 
the  impressiveness  of  a specific  form.  But  what ! is  it  nec- 
essary to  have  a bright  and  a special  conception  of  a being 
before  we  can  put  faith  in  the  word  of  his  testimony  ? No, 
it  is  not.  There  are  thousands  who  believe  in  Christ,  and 
would  stake  all  they  hold  dear  in  the  world  upon  the  truth 
of  His  declarations,  and  yet  are  utter  strangers  to  any 
bright  or  exhilarating  view  of  the  Savior.  I will  not 
vouch  for  their  sensible  comfort ; but,  upon  the  strength  of 
the  saying,  that  he  who  believeth  shall  enter  into  life,  I 
vouch  for  their  safety.  The  time  is  coming,  I promise 
them,  when  their  hearts  shall  be  blest  by  lively  and  endear- 
ing images  of  Christ ; but  in  the  mean  time  I call  upon  them, 
though  they  cannot  bring  their  conceptions  to  a distinct  view 
of  the  Savior,  to  keep  their  convictions  steady  and  un- 


222 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


shaken  in  the  faith  of  Him.  Hold  by  this  as  the  anchor  of 
your  soul,  that  what  He  hath  said  is  true ; and  like  those 
who  against  hope  believed  in  hope,  your  faith  will  prove 
itself  a firmer  principle  by  maintaining  its  vigor  even  in 
that  season  of  darkness  when  the  other  powers  and  exer- 
cises of  the  mind  refuse  to  go  along  with  it — when  cheer- 
fulness has  fled,  when  sight  gives  you  not  an  object  to  rest 
upon,  and  conception  labors  in  vain  after  images  of  joy. 
Why,  my  brethren,  in  pity  and  accommodation  to  the  weak 
nesses  of  our  feeble  nature,  God  promises  life  to  them  not 
who  conceive  brightly,  or  who  imagine  vividly  of  the  Sav- 
ior, but  to  those  who  believe  in  His  name.  He  leaves 
us  not  to  wander  among  the  uncertainties  of  fancy,  but  He 
gives  us  a familiar  and  a palpable  name  on  which  to  rest 
our  confidence.  I may  not  be  able  to  summon  up  an  image 
of  the  Savior,  but  I can  at  all  times  lay  hold  of  His  name  ; 
and  unto  the  invisible  Being  who  bears  it,  I will  ascribe  all 
the  power,  and  truth,  and  kindness  which  I find  ascribed  to 
Him  in  the  New  Testament.  I will  cleave  to  the  saying, 
“ Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I do.”  On 
this  I shall  rest  my  salvation,  for  I shall  cease  not  to  pray 
for  it  in  the  name  of  Christ.  On  this  I shall  rest  my  hope 
of  the  promised  manifestations,  for  in  the  name  of  Christ  I 
will  put  up  my  prayers  for  them.  On  this  I shall  rest  my 
security  for  keeping  all  His  commandments,  for  I will  go 
to  Him,  or,  at  least,  I will  make  mention  of  His  name,  when 
I implore  the  will  and  the  power  of  doing  all  things  through 
Him  strengthening  me. 

Thus  furnished,  I pass  on  to  the  other  commandments ; 
and  while  some,  at  the  very  outset  of  their  Christianity,  ram- 
ble in  pursuit  of  frames,  and  raptures,  and  manifestations, 
let  me  take  the  humble  but  obvious  path  of  duty  which  my 
Savior  lays  before  me.  Thus  would  I relieve  myself  of  the 
pains  of  uncertainty  ; and,  instead  of  walking  on  unknown 
ground,  with  no  other  light  to  direct  me  than  the  sparks  of 
my  own  kindling,  I go  to  the  plain  way  of  our  Savior’s  com- 
mandments, and  rejoice  to  think  that,  while  performing  the 
very  least  of  them,  I am  taking  the  nearest  road  to  the  light 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


223 


which  I aspire  after.  Kind  and  merciful  provision  ! I 
would  be  overwhelmed  in  the  darkness  of  the  higher  exer- 
cises, if  I were  called  upon  at  this  moment  to  prove  a rap- 
ture which  I do  not  feel,  and  to  rejoice  in  a fellowship  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son  which  I am  not  sure  that  I have 
ever  experienced.  There  is  a vail  between  me  and  those 
Higher  exercises,  and  to  penetrate  beyond  this  vail,  there 
must  come  down  upon  me  from  above  the  light  of  a clearer 
manifestation  than  I have  yet  gotten.  I do  not  deny  the 
truth  of  these  manifestations.  How  could  I,  in  the  face  of 
my  text,  and  in  the  face  of  sober  and  declared  experience 
from  the  mouth  of  many  thousands  of  Christians  ? No,  I do 
not  deny  them ; I long  to  realize  them.  But,  O merciful 
provision  to  the  babes  in  Christ  Jesus  ! to  reach  this  ground, 
which  is  still  dark  to  them,  there  is  a path  set  before  them 
which  wayfaring  men,  though  fools,  may  walk  in.  Jesus 
Christ  has  poured  the  clearest  light  over  the  every-day  path 
of  duty,  and  has  given  the  solemn  authority  of  a require- 
ment from  Him  to  His  lessons  and  His  laws.  The  higher 
exercises  may  be  to  me  incomprehensible ; but  surely  there 
is  nothing  incomprehensible  in  the  exercise  of  kindness 
among  the  needy,  in  the  exercise  of  patience  among  the 
irksome,  in  the  exercise  of  forgiveness  among  the  injurious. 
I must  wait  till  I obtain  light  and  capacity  for  the  one ; 
but,  in  the  mean  time,  let  me  firmly  attach  myself  to  the 
other.  On  the  ground  of  obvious  and  plainly  revealed  duty, 
let  me  make  a straight  path  for  my  feet ; let  me  rejoice  that 
I have  found  something  which  I clearly  and  certainly  know 
to  be  the  will  of  my  Savior  concerning  me ; and  strength- 
ened by  that  Spirit  which,  in  simple  dependence  upon  the 
promise,  I have  only  to  pray  for,  let  me  yield  a willing  per- 
formance, and  keep  by  the  commandments.  The  Savior  is 
not  blind  to  what  is  going  on  in  me.  He  sees  it ; and,  O 
encouraging  promise  to  a dark,  and  forlorn,  and  alienated 
creature,  he  accepts  it  as  the  evidence  of  love.  In  His 
good  time  He  will  send  help  from  the  sanctuary ; He  will 
give  light  and  manifestation  to  my  soul.  As  yet  I may 
enjoy  it  not ; but  I shall  wait  for  it,  and,  in  so  doing,  I am 


224 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


only  keeping  another  of  the  commandments.  “Wait  upon 
the  Lord  let  me  fear  the  Lord  ; let  me  obey  the  voice  of 
His  servant ; and  even  though  I walk  in  darkness  and  have 
no  light,  let  me  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  stay  upon 
my  God.  It  is  a good  thing  quietly  to  wait  for  the  promised 
deliverance.* 

I am  sensible  that  this  is  reversing  the  process  which 
many  attempt,  and  which  many  fail  in.  Why,  at  the  very 
commencement  of  their  course  they  get  out  of  sight  from 
all  their  acquaintances  ; they  can  talk  of  their  joys  and  their 
experiences,  while,  by  their  habitual  neglect  of  the  plainer 
duties,  they  disgrace  the  good  cause  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  are  without,  and  prove  to  them  who  are  within  that 
they  are  walking  in  sparks  of  their  own  kindling.  Such 
shall  lie  down  in  sorrow.  But  do  you,  my  brethren,  keep 
by  the  process  of  my  text.  Give  your  earnestness  to  the 
every-day  duties  of  the  gospel,  and  force  the  testimony  of 
the  world  by  your  display  of  its  virtues  and  its  accomplish- 
ments. The  men  of  the  world  laugh  at  the  experiences  of 
the  advanced  and  cultivated  Christian ; but  do  you  put 
them  to  silence  by  a firm  and  consistent  exhibition  of  what- 
soever things  are  pure,  or  lovely,  or  honest,  or  of  good  re- 
port. Then  in  time  you  will  realize  the  description  of  the 
apostle,  “As  unknown,  and  yet  well  known.”  Be  well 
known  in  the  world  for  your  integrity,  for  your  honor,  for 
your  humanity,  for  your  active  and  disinterested  benevo- 
lence, for  all  that  the  world,  dark  and  undiscerning  as  it  is, 
knows  how  to  applaud  and  how  to  sympathize  with.  But  in 
respect  to  the  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ; in  respect 
to  the  manifestations  of  my  text ; in  respect  to  fellowship 
with  the  Father  and  Son  ; in  respect  to  their  taking  up  an 
abode  with  you  by  the  Spirit,  and  those  bodies  of  yours 
becoming  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; why,  in  respect 
of  all  these,  you  must  lay  your  account  with  being  utterly 
unknown.  This  they  do  not  understand,  for  they  do  not 
experience  it,  and  the  Savior  manifests  Himself  to  you  in 
such  a way  as  He  does  not  unto  the  world. 

* Isaiah  1. 10  ; Lament,  iii.  26. 


DIVINE  MANIFESTATIONS. 


225 


Oh  that  what  I have  said  could  be  converted  into  a lesson 
of  patience  or  of  comfort  with  any  melancholy  Christian 
who  may  now  hear  me  ! To  divert  his  melancholy,  I give 
him  something  to  do,  and  refer  him  for  his  daily  task  to 
those  duties  of  the  New  Testament  which  are  of  daily  and 
hourly  recurrence.  This  is  the  way  revealed  in  my  text 
for  conducting  you  to  the  manifestations  you  long  after. 
Weeks,  and  months,  and  years  may  elapse  before  they  ar- 
rive ; but  believe  and  persevere,  for  this  is  the  faith  and 
patience  of  the  saints.  There  may  at  this  moment  be  a 
dark  screen  between  you  and  the  cheering  light  of  our 
Savior’s  manifestations  ; but  surely  there  is  no  such  screen 
over  the  lessons  of  your  daily  walk ; the  duties  of  mutual 
love  and  mutual  forbearance ; the  prayer  for  grace  and 
light  in  our  Savior’s  name  ; and  the  faith,  however  faint  its 
impressions  on  your  comforts  may  be,  that  God  is  waiting 
to  be  gracious,  and  the  time  of  your  deliverance  is  coming. 
Hold  fast  by  what  you  do  see,  and  God  in  His  good  time 
will  reveal  what  you  do  not  see.  Hold  fast  by  known 
duties,  and  you  will  come  to  experience  what  are  yet  un- 
known and  unfelt  privileges.  God  will  do  for  you  exceed- 
ing abundantly  beyond  what  you  have  now  the  power 
either  of  thinking  or  of  asking  for.  He  will  throw  a radi- 
ance over  your  heavenly  contemplations  ; and  the  Spirit  of 
God  will  witness  with  your  own  spirit  that  you  are  indeed 
His  children. 


SERMON  XIV, 


[Preached  at  Kilmany,  3d  April  1814.  At  Cupar,  19th  February  1815. 

At  Glasgow,  13th  August  1815.] 

ACTS  XXVI.  25. 

' But  he  said,  I am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus ; but  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth  and 

soberness.” 

It  might  be  difficult  to  give  a definition  of  madness  ; but 
it  is  not  so  difficult  to  understand  the  circumstances  which 
often  dispose  a neighborhood  to  fasten  the  imputation  of 
madness  on  any  individual.  It  strikes  me  that  the  leading 
circumstance  which  gives  rise  to  such  an  imputation  is  a 
great  devotion  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  individual  to  some 
one  theme  or  subject  which  his  acquaintances  around  him 
do  not  understand  and  do  not  sympathize  with.  They  can 
not  enter  into  his  tastes  or  feelings  or  pursuits,  and  there- 
fore they  call  him  unreasonable  ; and,  if  he  give  his  whole 
mind  to  the  subject,  they  call  him  mad.  He  has  suffered 
some  unaccountable  topic  to  run  away  with  him  ; and  be- 
cause it  is  a topic  which  has  no  attraction  for  them,  they 
pronounce  the  man  who  is  so  run  away  with  to  be  under  the 
influence  of  derangement.  We  doubt  not  that  a solitary 
star-gazer  in  some  remote  or  Highland  valley,  where  astron- 
omy was  never  heard  of,  would  fall  under  this  imputation, 
and  all  his  apparatus  of  books  and  telescopes  would  only 
serve  to  confirm  it.  It  is  true  that  now-a-days  such  a val- 
ley is  scarcely  to  be  met  with  ; astronomers  are  admitted 
to  all  the  credit  of  rationality ; but  this  would  not  have  hap- 
pened had  there  been  only  one  astronomer  in  the  world. 
They  have  appeared  in  sufficient  number  to  establish  them- 
selves, and  the  certainty  of  those  practical  results  which  all 
may  appreciate,  gives  a credit  to  those  abstract  and  diffi- 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


227 


cult  speculations,  of  which  a few  only  are  capable.  Still, 
however,  there  are  some  obscure  and  illiterate  districts 
where  the  honors  of  astronomy  are  unknown,  or  where 
only  a few  are  enlightened  enough  to  acknowledge  them  ; 
and  should  one  of  these  few  give  himself  devotedly  to  the 
science,  he  would  share  the  fate  of  the  minstrel — “ Some 
might  call  him  wondrous  wise,  but  some  pronounce  him 
mad.” 

Now,  my  brethren,  I appeal  to  you  from  this  judgment, 
and  ask  if,  in  point  of  truth,  you  think  it  a fair  one  ? Is  not 
the  charge  of  madness  fastened  upon  the  individual  in  ques- 
tion just  because  he  is  wiser,  and  abler,  and  higher  in  the 
scale  of  intellectual  dignity  than  the  people  around  him? 
Do  not  you  see  that  if  the  estimate  were  to  be  formed  on 
the  mere  strength  of  votes  and  of  numbers,  it  might  be  a 
delusive  one  ? Should  not  the  question  of  his  madness  be 
tried  upon  its  own  principles  ? and  were  it  so  tried,  would 
it  not  be  clear  as  day  that,  while  he  was  standing  on  a re- 
spectable elevation,  the  little  world  of  his  acquaintances 
were  groveling  in  all  the  bigotry  of  ignorance  ? And  would 
not  this  have  been  equally  true,  though  in  the  great  world 
there  had  only  been  one  astronomer  ? All  the  world  might 
have  thought  him  mad,  but  all  the  world  would  have  been 
wrong ; and  his  memory  would  have  been  handed  down 
with  ridicule  only  because  in  the  high  attributes  of  genius 
and  contemplation  he  stood  the  greatest  and  most  distin- 
guished of  the  species. 

A man  may  carry  in  his  mind  an  entire  devotedness  to 
astronomy,  and  a man  may  carry  in  his  mind  an  entire  de- 
votedness to  religion,  and  in  both  cases  there  may  be  a 
circle  of  observers  who  refuse  to  sympathize  and  go  along 
with  him.  It  is  true  that  religion  is  not  purely  an  intellect- 
ual subject — its  peculiarities  are  not  confined  to  matters  of 
speculation — they  extend  to  the  conduct,  and  may  be  ex- 
emplified by  men  of  the  humblest  talents  and  lowest  walks 
in  society.  Still,  however,  where  there  is  a want  of  sym- 
pathy there  will  be  a disposition  to  ridicule — a disposition 
to  give  names  and  to  throw  out  imputations,  and  to  fasten 


228 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


the  charges  of  madness  and  melancholy  and  Methodism  on 
the  man  who  is  altogether  a Christian.  It  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  such  an  imputation  should  be  preferred  against 
him  who  is  a Christian  in  the  full  extent  and  significancy  of 
the  term,  for  the  very  principle  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of 
the  imputation,  and  serves  to  explain  it,  is  expressly  assert- 
ed in  the  New  Testament.  This  principle  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a want  of  sympathy  and  common  understand- 
ing between  the  men  of  vital  Christianity  and  the  men  of 
the  world.  “Ye  are  not  of  the  world,”  says  our  Saviour, 
“therefore  the  world  hateth  you.”  The  children  of  this 
world  are  spoken  of  as  a totally  different  order  of  beings 
from  the  children  of  light.  Christians  are  called  upon  not 
to  be  conformed  to  the  world,  but  to  be  conformed  to  some- 
thing else,  which  we  may  be  sure  was  very  different  from 
the  world.  The  wisdom  of  this  world  is  said  to  be  foolish- 
ness with  God,  and  with  those  therefore  to  whom  the  Sav- 
iour hath  given  power  to  become  the  children  of  God.  And, 
finally,  such  is  the  want  of  understanding  betwixt  Christians 
and  the  men  of  the  world,  that  John  says  of  himself  and  his 
fellow-disciples,  “ The  world  knoweth  us  not “ marvel  not 
if  the  world  hate  you.” 

Here,  then,  we  behold  Christians  placed  in  those  very 
circumstances  where  they  are  exposed  to  the  full  operation 
of  the  principle  which  I have  been  illustrating.  If  Christ- 
ians indeed,  they  will  with  their  whole  mind  serve  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  give  their  whole  heart  to  a business  in  which  the 
world  cannot  sympathize  with  them.  This  direction  of  all 
their  faculties  to  what  to  the  world  at  large  is  an  unknown 
and  unaccountable  object,  is  the  very  thing  which  will  bring 
down  the  full  cry  of  ridicule  upon  them.  It  throws  them 
at  a distance  from  the  tastes  and  enjoyments  of  ordinary 
men.  It  makes  the  Christians  of  the  present  day  what 
Christians  were  in  the  times  of  the  apostles — a peculiar 
people.  It  is  this  peculiarity  which  holds  them  up  to  the 
mockeries  of  the  world.  They  are  outnumbered,  and  the 
loudest  laugh  must  rise  from  the  multitude  on  the  broad 
way.  In  the  game  of  ridicule,  indeed,  they  will  have  it  all 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


229 


to  themselves,  for  Christians  are  not  disposed  to  laugh,  but 
to  pity.  Their  only  weapons  are  the  still  small  voice  of 
persuasion,  and  the  mildness  of  an  affectionate  behavior. 
But  all  this  will  not  save  them  from  being  laughed  at ; and 
if  we  hear  of  the  oddities  of  the  solitary  and  abstruse  and 
devoted  astronomer,  we  are  sure  to  hear  also  of  the  oddi- 
ties of  the  entire  and  devoted  Christian. 

It  is  true,  that  if  all  or  even  the  majority  were  decided 
Christians,  they  would  present  such  a countenance  to  the 
world  as  to  silence  the  voice  of  ridicule.  Christianity  would 
cease  to  be  that  peculiar  thing  which  provokes  men  to  laugh 
at  it.  Go  to  a Moravian  village,  and  you  meet  not  with  a 
few  Christian  individuals  but  with  a Christian  society,  where 
the  virtues  of  the  gospel  are  exemplified  in  all  their  primi- 
tive simplicity  and  fullness — where  every  day  of  the  week 
wears  a Sabbath  complexion,  and  every  sentence  that  falls 
from  them  is  tinctured  with  the  phraseology  of  the  New 
Testament — where  such  a faith  as  theologians  only  describe 
animates  every  heart,  and  such  a charity  as  poets  only 
dream  of  is  realized  in  the  practice  of  every  individual — 
where  all  live  not  to  themselves,  but  to  the  Redeemer  who 
died^ftAhpm — where  every  other  business  is  made  sub- 
servient to  ther  business  of  piety — where  this  appears  to  be 
the  main ‘concern,  whether  at  work  among  their  families, 
or  in  those  assemblies  of  love,  where  music  falls  in  the  gra- 
cious strains  of  sacredness  and  peace  upon  the  ear  of  the 
wandering  traveler.  Holy  men  ! you  have  indeed  chosen 
the  better  part,  and  have  withdrawn  to  the  quietness  of 
your  own  villages  from  a world  that  is  not  worthy  of  you  ! 
Had  you  mingled  with  us,  your  good  would  have  been 
called  evil — nor  would  all  the  mildness  of  your  virtues  have 
saved  you  from  the  persecution  of  our  contempt.  The  im- 
putations of  madness  and  Methodism  would  have  been  lifted 
up  against  you,  and  the  world’s  dread  laugh  would  have 
been  sure  to  have  followed  the  men  who  give  up  all  for 
eternity. 

Now,  I have  to  put  the  same  question  to  you  as  before 
— Is  this  judgment  a fair  one  ? Should  not  the  question  be 


230 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


tried  upon  its  own  merits  ? or  are  we  to  suffer  the  mere 
strength  of  numbers  to  carry  it  ? Does  it  follow  that  we 
are  wrong,  because  the  weight  of  numbers  is  against  us  ? 
Why,  the  weight  of  numbers  is  against  Christianity  in  its 
present  form — that  is,  against  the  Christianity  of  the  New 
Testament ; but  we  should  think  of  the  many  who  crowd 
the  way  to  destruction,  and  the  few  who  find  the  way  to 
eternal  life — we  should  think  of  the  little  flock,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  world  lying  in  wickedness  on  the  other — we 
should  think  of  the  very  thing  which  is  highly  esteemed 
among  men  being  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  being  in  them  that  perish  foolishness — these, 
and  other  truths  resting  on  the  same  solemn  authority,  we 
should  think  of,  before  we  give  way  to  the  clamorous  con- 
tempt of  the  multitude,  or  suffer  the  ridicule  of  the  majority 
to  overbear  us. 

The  term  expressive  of  contempt  varies  with  the  age  and 
country.  Paul  was  called  mad  in  the  judgment-hall  of 
Cesarea.  A man  with  the  devotedness  of  Paul  would  in 
the  court  of  Charles  II.  have  been  called  a Puritan — in  a 
conclave  of  high  churchmen  he  would  be  called  a Method- 
ist— in  our  tasteful  and  literary  circles  he  would  be  called 
a fanatic — in  a party  of  ecclesiastics  where  coldness  passes 
for  rationality,  he  would  be  called  an  enthusiast — and  in 
private  life,  where  secularity  and  indifference  form  the  tame 
and  undeviating  features  of  almost  every  company,  he  would, 
if  altogether  a Christian,  be  spoken  of  as  a man  whose 
wTrong-headed  peculiarities  rendered  him  a very  odd  and 
unnatural  exception  to  the  general  character  of  the  species. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  discourse  I shall  attempt  to  re- 
duce what  is  commonly  laughed  at  as  enthusiasm  into  its 
leading  ingredients,  and  to  prove  that  the  men  who  possess 
such  enthusiasm  as  this  are  not  mad,  but  that  their  words 
and  their  ways  are  truth  and  soberness. 

The  first  ingredient  is  a deep  sense  of  eternity  in  the 
heart — leading  him  who  has  it  to  live  by  the  powers  of  a 
world  to  come.  We  have  here  both  a principle  and  a con- 
duct— such  a principle  as  receives  no  countenance  from 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


231 


this  world’s  sympathy,  and  such  a conduct  as  receives  no 
countenance  from  this  world’s  example.  They  both  serve 
to  mark  a peculiar  character — to  remove  him  to  a distance 
from  the  feelings  and  pursuits  of  other  men — to  throw  him 
out  of  the  range  of  their  sympathy.  An  air  of  peculiarity 
is,  to  the  undiscerning  eye  of  the  world,  an  air  of  folly  and 
extravagance.  It  provokes  ridicule — it  brings  down  epi- 
thets of  contempt — it  is  construed  into  some  perverse  and 
unaccountable  direction  of  the  understanding.  The  light 
and  the  frivolous  laugh,  and  your  cold,  rational,  judicious 
men  wonder  at  this  devotedness  of  mind  to  an  object  which 
they  cannot  go  along  with.  The  man  who  walks  by  faith, 
and  not  by  sight,  is  altogether  out  of  their  element,  and 
they  cannot  breathe  with  comfort  in  his.  There  is  a bar- 
rier betwixt  them,  and  till  the  mighty  Spirit  call  them  out 
of  darkness  into  light,  and  open  their  eyes,  which  are  now 
blinded  by  the  god  of  this  world,  the  barrier  is  impassable. 
The  man  whose  main  concern  is  eternity  is  at  antipodes 
with  the  general  run  of  people  in  the  world.  Go  at  ran- 
dom into  any  company,  and  tell  me  what  else  is  talked  of 
than  the  prices,  and  the  news,  and  the  entertainments  of  the 
day  which  passes  over  them.  Every  topic  is  temporal ; 
and  surely,  surely  if  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the 
mouth  speaketh,  every  desire,  every  feeling,  every  affection 
is  towards  what  is  temporal.  Will  not  the  man  who  has 
his  conversation  in  heaven — will  not  the  man  who  rejoices 
in  hope  of  the  coming  glory — will  not  the  man  who  labors 
for  the  meat  that  endureth  unto  everlasting  life — will  not 
the  man  who  is  diligent  to  be  found  without  spot  and  blame- 
less on  that  mighty  and  decisive  day  which  is  to  usher  in 
the  march  of  eternity — will  not  such  a man  be  an  excep- 
tion and  a rarity  among  the  secular  companies  of  the  world  ? 
Yes,  he  will ; and  the  only  way  to  escape  their  derision 
would  be  to  confine  the  elevation  of  his  principles  to  the 
silence  and  the  solitude  of  his  own  bosom.  If  he  dares  to 
whisper  them  he  is  disgraced  and  stared  at,  or  the  loud 
laugh  of  all  his  acquaintances  is  ready  to  overwhelm  him. 

But  surely,  surely  it  is  he,  and  not  they,  who  is  on  the 


‘232  DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 

side  of  truth  and  soberness.  Were  I asked  what  is  that 
which  mainly  distinguishes  wisdom  from  folly,  I would  say 
that  it  is  the  power  and  the  habit  of  anticipation.  An 
infant  has  no  anticipation.  It  is  the  creature  of  present 
appearances.  It  rambles  with  a delighted  eye  from  one 
object  to  another ; and  if  its  amusement  be  wrested  from  it 
for  a single  instant  it  abandons  itself  to  despair,  nor  does 
the  prospect  of  what  is  to  come  round  again  the  next  min- 
ute offer  any  alleviation  to  its  simple  and  unreflecting  bosom. 
The  infant  rises  to  a school-boy,  and  the  power  of  antici- 
pation is  formed  in  him.  He  can  look  forward  to  the  joys 
of  the  next  holiday — they  soothe  the  irksomeness  of  his 
confinement — they  make  him  faithful  to  his  task,  and  prove 
that  he  can  gather  something  from  futurity  to  guide  and 
to  encourage  him.  At  the  end  of  his  boyhood  I see  a 
further  stretch  of  anticipation.  He  verges  toward  the  grave 
and  serious  and  calculating  man.  He  looks  thoughtful,  and 
can  talk  of  his  washes  and  his  plans  beyond  the  period  of 
his  apprenticeship.  The  stream  of  years  carries  him  on  to 
confirmed  manhood,  and  gives*  the  last  finish  to  his  range 
of  temporal  anticipation.  He  can  now  take  a farther  look 
into  futurity — he  can  think  of  that  competency  which  is  to 
be  the  fruit  of  his  accumulations,  and  that  retirement  which 
is  to  dignify  the  evening  of  his  days — he  can  look  forward 
to  the  settlement  of  those  children  who  are  now  frolicking 
in  infancy  around  him  ; and  the  light  playfulness  of  their 
hearts,  joying  in  the  present,  and  caring  for  nothing  beyond 
it,  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  state  of  heart  in  the  parent, 
brooding  in  serious  calculation  over  the  plans  of  a distant 
futurity.  He  hath  become  a man,  and  put  away  childish 
things,  and  you  look  upon  the  change  as  respectable  and 
manly ; but  tell  me,  my  brethren,  upon  what  mysterious 
principle  it  is,  that  if  the  same  anticipation  shall  extend  its 
flight  a little  way  further,  and  pierce  beyond  the  curtain  of 
the  grave,  it  loses  in  the  sight  of  the  majority  of  this  world 
all  its  honor,  and  the  terms  of  fanaticism  and  folly  are  em- 
ployed to  cover  it  with  disgrace  ? Anticipation  is  the  very 
feature  of  the  mind  which  distinguishes  wisdom  from  folly, 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


233 


which  distinguishes  manhood  from  infancy.  It  is  that  feat- 
ure the  want  of  which  is  idiotism,  and  the  presence  of 
which  is  sense  and  understanding  ; and  that  man  is  the 
wisest  of  the  wise  who,  in  the  calculations  of  trade,  or 
politics,  or  war,  can  weigh  the  most  distant  consequences, 
and  who  from  the  eminence  of  his  superior  discernment  can 
command  the  farthest  view  into  that  region  of  futurity 
which  lies  before  him.  Surely,  on  this  very  principle  the 
man  still  wiser  than  he  is  the  Methodist  or  the  Moravian, 
whom  you  despise ; — he  who  can  renounce  the  world  for 
eternity — he  who  can  sacrifice  the  present  enjoyment  for 
the  distant  advantage  of  a place  in  heaven — he  who,  while 
death  acts  as  a barrier  to  the  plans  and  the  prospects  of 
worldly  men,  can  carry  his  anticipation  beyond  it,  and  make 
it  his  business  to  lay  up  for  immortality.  You  admire  the 
far-sighted  sagacity  of  wise  and  reflecting  men.  The  man 
who  is  altogether  a Christian  sees  farther  than  any  of  them. 
He  shoots  ahead  of  them  all — he  stands  on  a higher  emi- 
nence, and  a mightier  range  of  prospect  is  submitted  to  him. 
Is  this  the  man  whom  you  call  mad,  and  whom  your  sober 
and  secular  and  business  men  wonder  at  for  his  enthusiasm  ? 
Yes,  it  is  very  true  there  is  a difference  in  their  objects ; — • 
they  labor  for  the  meat  that  perisheth — he  looks  beyond  the 
grave,  and  shapes  his  measures  by  what  he  knows  of  the 
country  on  the  other  side  of  it.  Time  will  show  on  which 
side  the  madness  lies ; she  will  carry  us  forward  to  our 
death-beds,  and  then  she  will  arbitrate  the  question.  Yes  ! 
you  men  of  the  world,  who  were  so  wise  in  your  gener- 
ation, you  perhaps  gained  the  objects  you  were  aiming  at 
— but  where  are  they  now  ? They  are  all  over  and  gone, 
and  you  look  back  upon  them  as  the  frivolities  of  an  idiot 
dream.  Look  at  the  children  of  light ; they  only  can  die 
in  peace,  for  their  futurity  is  richly  provided  for,  and  the 
way  which  leads  to  such  a provision  is  surely  a way  of 
truth  and  soberness. 

The  next  ingredient  of  that  madness  with  which  Paul, 
and  every  Christian  like  Paul,  is  liable  to  be  charged,  is  a 
deep  sense  of  God  leading  him  who  has  it  to  do  all  things 


234 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


to  His  glory.  You  will  all  admit  the  singularity  of  such  a 
character,  and  the  transition  is  not  very  far  in  this  world’s 
estimate  from  what  is  singular  to  what  is  odd,  and  from 
what  is  odd  to  what  is  ridiculous.  Strange,  that  an  entire 
dedication  of  man  to  his  Maker  should  bring  down  upon 
him  epithets  of  contempt ! But  so  it  is.  The  very  term  in 
the  English  language  most  expressive  of  devotedness  to 
God,  has  become  in  the  mouth  of  many  an  epithet  of  dis- 
grace. That  term  is  godliness ; and  it  must  be  familiar  to 
some  who  now  hear  me,  that  to  say  of  a man,  “ he  is  one 
of  the  godly,”  is  the  most  effectual  way  of  tricking  him  out 
to  the  laughter  of  his  acquaintances.  How  are  we  to  ac- 
count for  that  fear  which  many  labor  under  of  being  detected 
in  the  attitude  of  prayer?  Is  it  not  because  prayer  is  the 
object  of  ridicule  ? The  sound  of  an  approaching  footstep 
raises  many  a Christian  from  his  knees,  and  the  presence 
of  a worldly  visitor  forces  many  a parent  to  suspend  the 
worship  of  God  in  his  family.  To  pass  from  no  family 
worship  at  all  to  the  observance  of  it  once  a-day — or  to 
pass  from  the  observance  of  it  once  a-day  to  a morning 
and  an  evening  sacrifice — would  be  put  down  by  many 
as  an  approach  to  the  extravagance  of  Methodism.  The 
voice  of  psalms  heard  from  the  house  of  a man  who  had 
just  begun  to  signalize  himself  by  his  religion,  would  pro- 
voke the  merriment  of  many  of  his  townsmen.  I bring 
forward  all  this,  because  the  most  effectual  method  of 
establishing  a position  is  to  rest  upon  facts  ; and  they  go  to 
prove  that  a principle  the  most  fitted  to  dignify  human 
beings  is  held  by  human  beings  in  disgrace — that  the  praise 
of  his  fellow-men  is  often  withheld  from  him  who  seeks  the 
friendship  of  his  God ; and,  strange  to  tell,  that  by  the  voice  of 
many  a society,  he  is  the  most  degraded  who  most  closely  and 
most  frequently  approaches  to  the  Monarch  of  the  Universe  ! 

But  devotedness  to  God  is  a principle,  and  prayer  is  only 
one  of  the  expressions  of  it.  If  the  principle  exist,  it  will 
not  confine  itself  to  this  one  expression.  With  the  perfect 
man,  it  will  give  direction  to  every  step  of  his  conduct,  and 
throw  a color  and  an  aspect  of  sacredness  over  the  whole 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


235 


of  his  history.  With  this  principle  in  his  heart,  let  him  go 
into  a company,  and  if,  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  he 
tries  to  minister  that  which  is  to  the  use  of  edifying,  is  there 
no  danger  of  his  being  rated  as  an  enthusiast?  With  this 
principle  let  him  go  to  a market,  and  if  in  that  scene  where 
dexterity  is  applauded,  and  a thousand  convenient  false- 
hoods are  uttered  without  remorse,  and  listened  to  without 
indignation,  he  tries  to  acquit  himself  with  simplicity  and 
godly  sincerity,  is  there  no  danger  of  his  being  laughed  at 
as  a simpleton  ? With  this  principle  let  him  go  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  however  pure  the  benevolence  or  splendid  the 
patriotism  of  what  he  pleads  for,  is  there  no  danger  of  his 
being  branded  as  a saint  or  a hypocrite  ? With  this  prin- 
ciple let  him  stay  at  home,  and  preside  over  the  arrange- 
ments of  his  family ; and  if  in  bringing  them  up  to  the  Lord 
he  dares  to  be  unfashionable,  will  there  be  no  contempt  for 
the  father  and  no  pity  for  the  children  as  the  victims  of  a 
weak  and  fanciful  scrupulosity ; and  in  the  very  spirit  of 
Festus  when  addressing  Paul,  will  there  not  be  many  of  his 
neighbors  ready  to  pronounce  him  a madman  ? 

Go  not  beyond  the  average  Christianity  of  the  world,  and 
you  escape  all  this.  But  if  it  be  true,  as  the  Bible  says, 
that  the  world  lieth  in  wickedness,  must  not  every  man 
who  fears  his  God  and  keeps  His  commandments,  go  be- 
yond the  average  of  such  a world  ? He  must  either  signal- 
ize himself,  or  he  must  share  in  the  general  condemnation ; 
and  I fear  that  he  takes  up  with  a very  meager  Christianity 
indeed  who  only  admits  so  much  of  it  as  will  allow  him  to 
pass  among  his  acquaintances  without  ridicule  and  without 
observation. 

But  let  us  not  give  way  to  the  clamors  of  the  majority. 
Let  us  treat  this  question  as  we  would  like  to  do  every 
other ; let  us  treat  it  rationally,  and  try,  upon  its  own  prin- 
ciples, on  which  side  the  madness  lies,  and  on  which  the 
truth  and  the  soberness.  God  is  invisible ; nor  will  He 
cease  to  be  so  till  the  commencement  of  that  era  in  the 
history  of  His  administration  when  He  shall  tabernacle  with 
men.  But  He  has  not  left  Himself  without  a witness ; and 


236 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


sure  I am  that  the  vast  majority  of  my  hearers  admit  as 
much  of  the  power  and  sovereignty  of  God  as  make  it  the 
true  wisdom  of  man  to  do  His  will  and  cultivate  His  friend- 
ship. Our  life  is  in  His  hand  ; He  compasses  all  our  ways 
— and  go  where  we  will  we  shall  never  find  a place  beyond 
the  limits  of  His  omnipresence.  Did  He  overlook  us  we 
might  be  unmindful  of  Him ; but,  wonderful  to  tell,  the 
same  eye  which  embraces  creation  in  all  its  amplitude,  is 
fastened  attentively  upon  every  one  of  us.  The  same  Being 
who  counteth  the  stars,  numbers  every  hair  of  our  head, 
and  registers  every  minute  of  our  existence.  Minuteness 
can  not  escape  Him — variety  can  not  bewilder  Him — extent 
and  magnificence  can  not  overpower  Him.  By  Him  all 
things  consist ; and  from  the  planets  and  the  systems  above 
us  to  the  particles  of  dust  which  float  upon  the  sunbeam — 
all  is  submitted  to  the  guidance  of  His  everlasting  hand,  and 
the  notice  of  His  vigilant  and  ever-discerning  eye. 

O ye  men  who  live  without  God  in  the  world,  the  mock- 
ery you  pour  on  those  who  fear  Him  is  nothing  better  than 
an  idiot’s  laugh  ! The  sins  which  you  commit  every  hour, 
and  which  die  away  in  forgetfulness  from  your  conscience, 
are  lost  and  dissipated  amid  the  variety  of  other  things 
which  checker  the  history  of  this  crowded  universe.  God 
sees  them,  and  God  does  not  forget  them.  They  are  treas- 
ured up  in  the  book  of  His  remembrance  ; and  in  that  day 
when  the  books  are  opened,  you  will  again  hear  of  them. 
In  that  great  day  of  His  wrath,  all  the  elements  He  has 
formed  will  be  the  ministers  of  His  justice  ; and  when  this 
earth  is  shaking  from  under  you,  and  these  heavens  scowl 
upon  you  with  an  altered  countenance,  who  is  there  among 
you  that  shall  be  able  to  stand  ? 

The  topic  is  inexhaustible,  and  I shall  therefore  range  all 
my  remaining  observations  under  a third  and  last  head. 
One  leading  ingredient  of  that  religion  which  many  call 
madness,  is  a fearless  and  consistent  adherence  to  the  lan- 
guage and  the  doctrines  and  the  morality  of  the  Bible. 
There  is  among  all  professing  Christians  an  avowred  respect 
for  Scriptural  Christianity ; but  this  respect  is  no  securitv 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM 


237 


whatever,  if  upon  the  plea  of  a sober  and  rational  interpret- 
ation, every  man  may  take  to  himself  a license  for  the  most 
unbounded  deviations  from  the  sense  and  spirit  of  the 
Scriptures.  This  way  of  molding  and  chastening  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Bible,  to  bring  it  down  to  the  standard  of  our 
previous  conception,  is  in  fact  disdaining  its  authority.  It 
is  taking  up  with  a religion  of  our  own — it  is  resting  in  the 
sufficiency  of  our  own  fancies  ; and  this  feeling  of  suffi- 
ciency will  carry  many  much  farther  than  to  the  mere 
exercise  of  garbling  the  record.  Why,  they  will  feel  an 
independence  upon  its  information  altogether,  and  they  will 
cease  to  consult  it.  This  has  often  given  rise  to  a display 
of  ignorance  and  temerity  which  on  any  other  subject  would 
be  positively  ludicrous.  In  the  most  noted  performance  of 
the  day  against  the  vagaries  of  Methodism,*  the  laugh  is 
often  raised  against  an  undoubted  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  and 
what  is  more  decisive  still,  the  examples  which  are  given 
of  Methodistical  nonsense  and  Methodistical  phraseology, 
are  the  very  nonsense  and  the  very  phraseology  of  the  New 
Testament.  They  disclaim  all  acquaintance  with  the  chil- 
dren of  light  and  of  grace  ; while  it  is  the  solemn  language 
of  the  Bible,  that  they  who  are  not  among  the  children  of 
light  are  among  the  children  of  a world  lying  in  wicked- 
ness ; and  they  who  are  not  heirs  of  grace  and  the  vessels 
of  mercy,  are  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction. 
They  hold  up  a Christian  to  derision  who  said  that  “ her 
soul  was  stayed  upon  God.”  Now,  although  Isaiah  does 
not  promise  to  such  peace  from  the  world,  he  promises  a 
peace  which  the  world  knoweth  not : — “ Thou  wilt  keep 
him  in  perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee.”  But 
her  mind  was  “ in  a most  praying  frame,  going  out  of  her- 
self and  taking  shelter  in  God.”  I know  not  how  obedience 
to  an  express  injunction  of  the  apostle,  “ Rejoice  in  the  Lord 
always,  and  again  I say  rejoice,”  could  be  more  truly 

* Rev.  Sydney  Smith’s  paper  on  Methodism,  in  No.  XXII.  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Review , pp.  342  and  345.  The  phrases  commented  on  by  Dr.  Chal* 
mers  are  there  quoted  from  the  Diary  of  a Mrs.  Roberts,  as  given  in  the 
Methodist  Magazine. 


238 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


represented.  Bat  she  felt  herself  “ helpless  as  an  infant, 
and  depended  upon  God  for  all  things.”  Paul  must  come 
in  here  for  his  share  of  the  derision.  He  was  not  sufficient 
of  himself — his  sufficiency  was  of  God  ; and  he  calls  upon 
us  to  trust  in  the  living  God,  “who  giveth  us  all  things 
richly  to  enjoy.”  But  she  felt  that  the  Lord  “ was  waiting 
to  be  gracious.”  What  a still  higher  degree  of  Methodism 
must  the  Christian  disciples  of  Peter  have  arrived  at,  who 
actually  tasted  that  the  Lord  was  gracious.  But  the  “ spirit 
of  prayer  and  supplication  was  given  to  her.”  If  this  process 
be  nothing  better  than  a fanciful  chimera,  the  prophet  who 
foretold  it  was  a dreamer  of  dreams.  He  should  be  deposed 
from  the  canon  ; and  the  only  way  of  being  consistent  would 
be  to  make  the  other  prophets  and  apostles  and  evangelists 
follow  him  successively.  But  “ the  assurance  was  given  to 
her  that  she  was  accepted  in  the  Beloved.”  And  yet  we 
are  told  that  the  same  thing  was  given  to  the  Thessalonians, 
when  the  Gospel  came  to  them  not  in  word  only,  but  in 
power  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  much  assurance.  It 
is  the  constant  and  established  way  in  which  the  assurance 
comes.  It  is  always  given.  “ You  are  saved  by  faith,  and 
that  not  by  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God.”  The  accept- 
ance in  the  Beloved  may  sound  Methodistically  in  the  ears 
of  those  to  whom  the  preaching  of  the  New  Testament  is 
foolishness  ; but  it  is  the  very  thing  which  the  apostle  Paul 
and  his  Ephesian  disciples  knew  themselves  to  be  in  pos- 
session of,  and  they  gave  praise  to  the  glory  of  His  grace 
wherein  they  had  been  made  accepted  in  the  Beloved.  But 
what  shall  we  make  of  their  manifestations  ? If  the  mani- 
festations of  the  Saviour  to  the  soul  be  not  a reality,  then 
Christ  is  a deceiver ; arid  the  tone  of  truth  and  of  tender- 
ness which  give  all  the  charm  of  a most  pathetic  eloquence 
to  His  farewell  address,  are  nothing  better  than  the  artifices 
of  a hypocrite.  “ He  that  loveth  me  shall  be  loved  of  my 
Father,  and  I will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him.” 
Ay,  and  such  a manifestation  too,  as  the  men  of  the  world 
may  well  wonder  at,  for  they  have  no  share  in  it.  He  will 
manifest  Himself  unto  His  own,  and  not  unto  the  world. 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


239 


Now,  would  such  men  only  stand  on  the  open  and  de- 
clared ground  of  infidelity,  we  would  be  at  no  loss  as  to  the 
kind  of  argument  which  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
them  ; and  we- need  be  at  as  little  loss  on  the  ground  which 
they  have  actually  taken  up.  They  avow  themselves 
Christians,  and  all  I ask  of  them  is  to  bring  their  thoughts 
into  the  captivity  of  the  obedience  of  Christ.  We  concur 
with  them  in  the  desire  that  religion  were  pruned  of  all  the 
extravagance  which  has  been  grafted  upon  it ; but  how  has 
this  extravagance  arisen  ? Why,  by  men  traveling  out  of 
the  record,  and  giving  all  the  authority  of  sacredness  to 
their  own  imaginations.  In  this  way  they  have  added  to 
the  words  of  this  book ; but  is  it  not  an  equally  daring  in- 
vasion upon  the  Bible  when  men  are  found  to  take  away 
from  it  ? And  if  the  very  terms  and  doctrines  of  the  Bible 
are  held  up  to  derision  as  the  reveries  of  fanaticism,  is  it 
not  a proof  that  these  doctrines  are  falsified  and  disowned 
in-  the  reveries  of  a spurious  philosophy?  Surely,  if  this  be 
the  message  of  God,  all  taste  and  imagination  and  science 
must  vanish  and  give  way  before  its  overbearing  authority ! 
This  is  the  great  light  which  puts  out  all  the  lesser  ones.  It 
shines  in  many  a conventicle,  while  it  leaves  halls  and  col- 
leges in  the  shadow  of  darkness — the  men  whom  the  world 
call  mad  are  walking  in  it,  while  the  men  whom  the  world 
call  wise  walk  in  the  sparks  of  their  own  kindling.  The 
god  of  this  world  has  blinded  them — he  has  surrounded  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  with  associations  of  meanness  and 
contempt.  To  their  perverted  minds  he  has  turned  the 
preaching  of  Christ  into  foolishness,  and  given  to  the  words 
of  truth  and  soberness  the  coloring  of  a visionary’s  dream. 

This  is  a sad  delusion ; and  it  is  woeful  to  think  how  many 
thousands  are  held  in  it.  There  is  not  a secular  company 
you  can  go  into  where  piety  would  not  be  laughed  at  as  an 
extravagance,  and  where  the  man  who  is  altogether  a 
Christian  would  not  be  looked  upon  as  having  forfeited  his 
pretensions  to  sense  and  soberness.  The  general  tone  of 
society  is  at  antipodes  with  the  tone  of  the  New  Testament; 
and  though  you  were  to  go  to  the  very  outermost  limits  of 


240  DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 

lawful  accommodation,  you  would,  if  sanctified  by  the  faith 
that  is  in  Jesus,  stand  at  an  unapproachable  distance  from 
the  men  of  the  world,  and  carry  such  an  aspect  of  singular- 
ity in  the  whole  system  of  your  concerns,  as  would  mark 
you  out  to  be  a peculiar  people.  This  is  what  thousands 
recoil  from,  and  they  tamely  surrender  themselves  to  the 
influence  and  example  of  the  overwhelming  majority  around 
them.  They  follow  the  multitude  to  do  evil,  and  with  the 
multitude  they  will  perish: — “For  whosoever  shall  be 
ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  works  in  this  sinful  generation,  of 
him  also  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed  when  He  cometh 
in  the  glory  of  His  Father  with  the  holy  angels.” 

There  is  only  one  part  of  the  alternative  which  the 
Christian  minister  can  press  upon  you — Come  out  from 
among  them,  and  in  the  language  of  Peter  to  the  Jewish 
multitude,  “ Save  yourselves  from  this  untoward  genera- 
tion.” Then  they  had  to  sustain  the  persecution  of  violence, 
and  now  you  will  have  to  sustain  the  equally  effective  per- 
secution of  ridicule  and  contempt.  Christ  endured  the 
contradiction  of  sinners,  but  it  was  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  Him.  The  same  troubles  await  you  here,  but  if  you 
endure  unto  the  end,  you  will  share  in  the  same  triumphs 
hereafter.  Take  not  up  with  a measured  Christianity;  bid 
adieu  to  all  partitioning  betwixt  Christ  and  the  world.  He 
who  followeth  Him  must  forsake  all;  and  the  work  of  pro- 
viding for  eternity  is  surely  ample  enough  in  its  exercises, 
and  rich  enough  in  its  rewards,  to  engross  and  to  occupy  the 
whole  man.  Suffer  not  any  one  thing  to  come  into  compe- 
tition with  it.  It  is  only  against  one  competitor  that  I have 
attempted  to  arm  you — the  opinion  of  your  acquaintances — 
many  of  whom  may  wonder  at  the  change;  and  when  they 
see  in  your  life  and  conversation  the  fruits  meet  for  repent- 
ance, may  denounce  them  in  every  company  as  the  oddities 
of  an  altered  man.  This  you  may  look  for,  and  this  you 
must  brave.  It  is  the  trial  of  your  faith  ; and  when  I take 
a survey  of  that  unchristian  complexion  which  appears  so 
broadly  and  so  visibly  on  the  face  of  the  world,  I can  not 
but  think  that  the  Christians  of  the  day  have  the  very  same 


DEFENSE  OF  RELIGIOUS  ENTHUSIASM. 


241 


exercise  of  principle  to  go  through  with  the  Christians  of  a 
more  stormy  and  unsettled  period.  There  is  a greater 
similarity  than  is  generally  conceived — the  only  difference 
is  in  the  species  of  persecution ; and  when  I think  of  the 
many  thousands  who  in  the  high  flush  of  gallantry  and  honor 
would  rather  die  than  be  affronted,  I will  not  say  that  the 
persecution  of  contempt  is  not  more  tremendous  than  the 
persecution  of  personal  violence.  It  will  . cost  you  nothing 
to  be  just  such  a Christian  as  the  average  of  those  around 
you ; but  to  pass  from  the  nominal  indifference  of  the  age 
to  the  entire  and  devoted  Christianity  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, is  almost  as  mighty  a stride  as  to  pass  to  it  from  the 
abominations  of  heathenism.  Be  assured  that  in  such  a 
cause  singularity  is  wisdom,  and  a prudent  accommodation 
to  the  world  is  madness.  It  is  only  a little  while  that  they 
will  have  to  laugh  at  you,  or  to  say  of  any  one  of  you,  that 
he  is  beside  himself.  God,  and  eternity,  and  the  Bible  are 
with  you,  and  what  though  the  men  of  the  world  be  against 
you  ? A few  years  will  bring  round  your  vindication ; and 
amid  the  awful  realities  of  the  judgment,  it  will  appear  that 
the  way  of  the  derided  Christian  is  indeed  a way  of  truth 
and  soberness ! 

VOL.  vi. — L 


SERMON  XV. 


[On  the  closing  Sabbath  of  his  ministry  at  Kilmany,  July  9,  1815,  Dr. 
Chalmers  preached  three  short  sermons — the  first  intended  to  awaken  the 
secure — the  second  to  direct  the  awakened — the  third  to  counsel  the  believ- 
er. The  second  of  these  sermons,  on  the  text  Isaiah  lvi.  1,  2,  is  omitted 
here  as  occupied  with  the  same  topic  which  was  insisted  on  in  the  “ Ad- 
dress to  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Parish  of  Kilmany.”  (See  Works,  vol.  xii. 
p.  71.)  The  introductory  paragraph  of  the  first  sermon,  in  which  there  was 
an  allusion  to  the  special  circumstances  of  the  day,  I have  not  been  able  to 
recover,  so  that  it  opens  abruptly.] 

HEBREWS  III.  7,  8. 

“Wherefore  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 

hearts.” 

But  this  is  a subject  on  which  I can  expatiate  no  more, 
and  you  will  forgive  me  if  I should  even  studiously  keep 
aloof  from  it  in  the  future  course  of  this  day’s  services.  It 
is  a subject,  the  introduction  of  which  may  unfit  the  mind 
for  purer  and  better  exercises.  It  may  distress  without 
edifying.  It  may  hurt  the  speaker ; and  those  who  are 
around  him,  while  deeply  affected  with  one  of  the  many 
fluctuations  of  time,  may  in  fact  not  be  hearing  for  eternity. 
This  is  the  higher  ground  to  which  I want  to  confine  myself. 

A man  in  common  language  is  called  hard-hearted  who 
would  refuse  his  tear  and  his  sensibilities  on  an  occasion 
like  the  present.  But  he  may  give  way  to  all  the  excesses 
of  tenderness,  and  yet  be  hard-hearted  in  the  sense  of  my 
text.  An  object  of  sight  may  engage  his  every  affection ; 
and  when  that  object  is  shifted  away  from  him,  he  might 
abandon  himself  to  the  violence  of  grief.  Yet  wonderful 
to  tell,  in  the  matters  of  faith,  the  heart  of  this  very  man 
might  remain  hard  as  a nether  millstone.  Eternity  with 
all  its  mighty  claims  upon  the  attention  of  every  imperish- 
able being  might  have  no  power  to  move  him.  The  un- 
seen God  who  gives  him  every  breath  might  knock  at  his 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


243 


bosom  by  the  warnings  of  His  providence  and  His  minis- 
ters. and  it  remain  shut  and  shielded  against  them  all.  That 
guilt  which  the  angels  see  him  to  be  covered  with  he  might 
not  see  nor  be  sensible  of;  and  because  there  is  nothing 
which  the  world  can  point  its  finger  at — nothing  which  the 
people  around  him  who  are  as  spiritually  blinded  as  himself 
can  fasten  upon  him  as  a deformity  in  their  eyes — he  may 
remain  unappalled  when  we  tell  him  that  there  is  a lurking 
sinfulness  within,  about  which  it  were  well  if  we  could  soft- 
en his  heart,  and  fill  it  with  the  suspicions  and  alarms  it  has 
yet  been  a stranger  to — that  with  all  his  decencies  and  his 
accomplishments  he  is  a forgetter  of  God — he  is  alive  to  the 
world,  but  he  is  dead  to  the  Maker  of  it — he  is  an  habitual 
stranger  to  the  influence  of  God’s  authority  over  him,  and 
if  he  remain  so,  God  will  turn  him  into  hell. 

Let  me,  therefore,  make  one  attempt  more  to  pull  down 
the  strongholds  of  carnal  security  within  you.  I address 
myself  to  the  careless  and  unawakened — to  those  who  have 
not  yet  become  seriously  alive  to  the  danger  of  their  souls 
— to  those  who  have  never  yet  pressed  home  upon  their 
consciences  the  high  questions  of  sin  and  of  salvation — to 
those  who  have  hitherto  been  in  the  habit  of  spending  their 
days  as  if  their  all  were  in  the  world,  as  if  eternity  lay  far, 
and  very  far  in  the  background  of  their  contemplations — as 
if  it  were  seen  to  stand  at  such  a vast  and  immeasurable 
distance  from  them  that  it  offered  no  immediate  call  upon 
their  attention  whatever ; or,  to  speak  more  correctly  per- 
haps, as  if  it  were  not  seen  and  were  not  looked  to  at  all. 
Yes  ! my  brethren,  there  is  a thick  covering  upon  the  face 
of  these  people ; and  it  does  not  lie  within  the  strength  or 
compass  of  a human  arm  to  draw  aside  the  vail  which  hides 
from  them  the  realities  of  the  spiritual  world.  This,  my 
brethren,  I can  vouch  to  be  the  result  of  all  my  little  ex- 
perience as  a Christian  minister.  I feel  that  there  is  a power 
of  resistance  in  human  nature  above  the  power  of  argument 
and  beyond  it — that  something  else  must  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  you  than  the  demonstrations  of  human  reasoning  or 
the  eloquence  of  a human  voice — that  these  have  all  the 


244 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


feebleness  of  carnal  weapons  when  brought  into  the  con- 
test with  the  dark  and  sullen  and  obstinate  enmity  of  the 
natural  mind  against  the  things  of  God — that  another  power, 
mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,  must  be  called 
in  to  aid  the  high  service  of  the  Christian  ministry — that 
the  man  who  rests  his  hope  of  success  on  his  own  might  or 
his  own  wisdom  puts  this  power  away  from  him,  and  that 
the  only  right  attitude  for  grappling  it  with  our  people  is 
that  of  the  apostle,  who  rested  all  his  sufficiency  on  God, 
and  never  thought  of  himself  but  with  weakness,  and  with 
fear,  and  with  much  trembling. 

I desire,  therefore,  in  what  remains  to  throw  myself  upon 
the  aids  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  I shall  endeavor,  in  the 
further  prosecution  of  the  subject,  to  soften  your  hearts, 
first,  by  a sense  of  guilt ; secondly,  by  a sense  of  danger ; 
and  thirdly,  by  the  touching  argument  of  my  text — giving 
you  to  know  that  the  call  of  to-day  may  never  be  repeated 
— that  the  season  of  grace  may  not  be  prolonged  to  the  un- 
certain morrow — and  that  while  at  this  interesting  now,  all 
who  hear  the  word  of  salvation  and  will  to  accept  of  it 
shall  be  welcome,  they  who  put  it  away  from  them  are  just 
hardening  their  hearts  against  the  solemnity  of  all  future 
warnings,  and  that  the  call  of  another  day  may  never  be 
brought  to  bear  with  energy  upon  their  consciences. 

I.  Harden  not  your  hearts  against  a sense  of  your  guilt 
—look  fairly  at  the  matter.  I am  sure  that  many,  if  not  all 
of  you,  must  be  sensible  that  against  the  God  who  brought 
you  into  being,  and  keeps  you  in  it  just  as  long  as  it  pleases 
Him',  and  tells  you  what  is  His  will,  and  what  is  your  duty 
— that  against  Him  you  have  times  and  ways  without  num- 
ber been  guilty  of  positive  and  specific  sins.  But  some,  my 
brethren,  have  fewer  visible  transgressions  than  others,  and 
they  compare  themselves  with  themselves,  and  thus  bring 
their  conduct  to  the  low  standard  of  human  estimation,  and 
they  pronounce  upon  themselves  a very  smooth  and  a very 
satisfying  verdict.  What  then  do  they  make  of  their  Bible, 
wherein  we  are  told  that  the  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


245 


things,  and  desperately  wicked — that  the  whole  world  is 
guilty  before  God — that  men  by  nature  are  the  children  of 
wrath,  and  that,  unless  the  remedy  provided  in  the  gospel 
be  taken  and  applied,  it  is  a wrath  which  abideth  on  them  ? 
Why,  my  brethren,  these  truths  are  seldom  looked  at,  and 
yet  if  they  would  seek  a little  farther  into  their  own  hearts, 
these  truths  might  be  made  manifest  to  their  consciences. 
Go  not,  my  brethren,  to  deceive  yourselves  into  a light 
sense  of  your  exceeding  sinfulness,  because  the  men  around 
you  have  little  to  reproach  you  with.  Look  not  to  the 
people  around  you,  but  look  to  God.  It  is  not  so  much  this 
one  act  of  sin  and  that  other  act  of  it  which  makes  you  a 
sinner  in  his  eye.  It  is  the  whole  bent  of  your  hearts  being 
away  from  Him.  It  is,  what  I am  sure  you  must  be  all 
conscious  of,  my  brethren,  your  perpetual  tendency  to  turn 
every  man  to  his  own  way,  and  to  think  not  and  care  not 
whether  God  has  a will  and  a way  for  you.  It  is  the  want 
of  a habitual  commitment  of  yourselves  to  His  guidance. 
You  have  got  your  creation  from  Him,  and  many  gifts  and 
enjoyments  to  please  you  after  you  have  been  created. — • 
And  how  come  you  on  with  them  ? Why,  just  living  as  il 
your  great  end  were  to  please  yourselves,  and  to  make 
yourselves  happy  with  the  gifts,  and  forget  the  giver.  God 
had  an  end  in  your  creation,  but  you  never  mind  His  end, 
and  make  your  own  end  take  the  precedency  of  His  alto- 
gether. When  He  formed  His  creatures  He  did  not  from 
that  moment  give  up  all  further  concern  with  them.  He 
has  a will  for  them  to  observe,  but  they  follow  after  their 
own  will — and  only  give  them  enough  of  the  good  things 
which  God  has  provided,  they  are  perfectly  satisfied  to  give 
up  all  further  concern  with  God.  It  is  this  disinclination  of 
the  heart  to  Hirr*  which  forms  the  very  essence  and  princi- 
ple of  their  guilt — which  puts  the  inner  man  into  a state  of 
rebellion — which  makes  one  and  all  of  us  in  our  natural 
state  live  without  God  in  the  world,  and  which,  under  all 
the  varieties  of  outward  conduct — at  one  time  monstrous, 
at  another  ordinary,  at  another  becoming,  at  another  ami- 
able— constitutes  us  guilty  of  hourly  and  habitual  disobedi- 


246  FAREWELI^DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 

ence  against  Him.  Harden  not  your  hearts  against  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  of  all  this  to  forget  God  who  gives  you 
the  very  things  which  steal  your  hearts  away  from  Him — 
to  disown  Him  who,  were  He  to  withdraw  His  supporting 
hand,  could  make  you  fall  to  pieces — to  resist  His  pleading 
and  entreating  and  remonstrating  voice  when  He  calls  upon 
you  for  the  glory  due  unto  Him — to  cast  Him  off  from  that 
ascendency  over  you  which  is  surely  His  right — and  to 
banish  from  your  hearts  the  principle  of  respect  unto  His 
will,  and  of  reverence  for  His  character  and  His  name. 

II.  Harden  not  your  hearts  against  a sense  of  danger. 
When  one  thinks  of  his  guilt  he  feels,  or  he  ought  to  feel, 
remorse.  When  one  thinks  of  his  danger,  he  feels,  or  he 
ought  to  feel,  alarm.  There  is  such  a thing  as  a determined 
shutting  out  of  both  these  sentiments  from  the  heart ; and 
this  is  just  the  hardening  of  the  text.  It  was  by  Pharaoh’s 
heart  being  hardened  against  the  terror  of  the  awful  threat- 
enings  which  were  sounded  in  his  ear,  that  he  persisted  in 
his  own  infatuations,  and  got  all  these  threatenings  realized 
upon  him.  And  this  will  be  the  result  of  the  hardenings  of 
your  heart,  too,  my  brethren.  Unless  the  heart  of  stone  be 
taken  out  of  you,  and  a heart  of  flesh  be  given,  and  you  be- 
come soft  and  easily  persuaded  by  the  terrors  of  the  Lord, 
those  terrors  will  all  be  turned  into  realities.  Instead  of 
the  prospect  you  will  soon  have  the  possession  of  the  com- 
ing misery ; and  for  the  apprehension  of  God’s  wrath  now, 
you  will  be  doomed  then  to  the  dire  and  everlasting  endur- 
ance of  it.  How,  think  you,  can  it  be  otherwise  ? God, 
your  maker  and  your  absolute  proprietor,  tells  you  what 
He  wants  you  to  do  for  Him — and  the  thing  is  not  done — 
and  He  is  cheated  of  the  loyalty  of  His  ojvn  creatures — 
and  they  walk  in  the  counsel  of  their  own  hearts  and  in  the 
sight  of  their  own  eyes — and  they  chalk  out  a line  for 
themselves,  which  they  willfully  persevere  in.  If  He  had 
said,  “ I leave  you  to  do  as  you  like,”  good  and  well ; but 
He  has  said — and  has  He  not  the  right  of  saying— “ This 
is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it but  no,  we  turn  every  man  to 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


247 


his  own  way,  and  will  not  have  God  to  reign  over  us,  and 
cast  off  from  us  the  yoke  of  His  authority,  and  walk  in  the 
imagination  of  our  own  hearts — and  all  this  in  the  face  of 
God  warning  and  pleading  and  threatening  and  telling  us. 
in  language  too  solemn  to  be  treated  by  us  with  mockery, 
that  the  man  who  continueth  not  in  the  words  of  the  book 
of  His  law  to  do  them,  is  accursed.  O.  my  brethren,  go 
not  to  dispose  lightly  and  easily  of  the  warnings  of  God. 
Go  not  to  think  of  Him  as  of  a God  that  can  be  mocked  or 
turned  from  His  purpose.  It  strikes  me  as  an  awfully  em- 
phatic description  of  God,  when  we  are  told  of  Him  that 
He  hath  said  it,  and  shall  He  not  do  it?  Let  us  think  of 
the  solemnity  and  the  number  of  His  sayings  directed  against 
the  children  of  iniquity ; and  let  us  farther  think  that  it  is 
enough  to  stamp  us  all  the  children  of  iniquity  that  our 
hearts  are  habitually  away  from  God.  What  more  damn- 
ing iniquity  than  to  refuse  our  hearts  to  Him  who  gave  us 
them — who  set  them  and  who  keeps  them  beating — who 
requires  them  of  us  in  these  words,  “My  son,  give  me  thy 
heart” — and  who  tells  that  He  will  at  last  set  this  sin  in 
all  its  sinfulness  before  our  eyes,  and  bids  us  consider,  “we 
that  forget  God,  lest  He  tear  us  in  pieces,  and  there  shall 
be  none  to  deliver.”  Be  assured  that  the  threats  of  God 
have  a meaning,  that  the  warnings  of  God  have  an  accom- 
plishment, and  that  there  is  not  a single  denunciation  He 
has  uttered  which  does  not  carry  a terrible  reality  along 
with  it.  As  surely,  my  brethren,  as  these  bodies  of  yours 
shall  be  carried  to  the  grave,  so  surely  shall  these  souls  of 
yours  return  to  the  God  who  gave  them.  There  is  an  ac- 
count to  be  given  in.  There  is  a day  for  the  manifestation 
of  God’s  wrath  against  all  unrighteousness  of  men.  There 
is  a judgment-seat  to  be  raised  in  the  sight  of  men  and  of 
angels.  There  is  a great  convocation  to  be  held,  at  which 
all  of  this  world,  and  many  of  other  worlds,  shall  be  pres- 
ent. The  angels  who  come  in  glory  will  not  witness  on 
that  day  the  weakness  of  a degraded  and  an  insulted  God. 
O no,  my  brethren,  there  will  be  a terrible  vindication  of 
truth  and  justice  and  holiness  and  majesty.  On  that  day 


248 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


each  unreconciled  sinner  will  mourn  apart ; and  I call  on 
each  who  now  hears  to  look  home  to  his  own  bosom — not 
to  stifle  any  movement  of  conscience  which  he  may  feel 
there,  but  to  put  and  to  press  the  high  question  of  his  ac- 
ceptance with  God,  and  not  to  give  it  over  till  he  has  thor- 
oughly sought  after  the  way  of  peace,  and  assuredly  found 
it.  “ To-day,  while  it  is  called  to-day,  harden  not  your 
hearts.” 

III.  And  O that  this  prominent  consideration  of  the  text 
had  its  right  influence  upon  you,  my  brethren.  This  is  my 
third  and  my  last  head  of  discourse.  Here  you  all  are  in 
life  and  in  the  exercise  of  your  faculties — and  what  is  the 
interesting  point  you  occupy  ? Why,  my  brethren,  there 
is  not  one  of  you  who  may  not  find  peace  with  God  if  he 
will — who  may  not  obtain  eternal  life  if  he  will — who  may 
not  come  to  a gracious  and  accessible  Saviour,  who  may 
not  obtain  mercy  to  pardon  him,  and  grace  to  help  him,  if 
he  will.  All,  if  you  will,  my  brethren.  But  you  may  not 
will  to  forsake  all  and  cdme  to  Christ.  You  may  not  will 
to  give  up  your  evil  deeds  and  your  evil  habits  and  return 
unto  God,  doing  works  meet  for  repentance.  You  may  not 
will  that  that  heart  of  yours  should  resign  its  own  imagina- 
tions, and  be  devoted  with  all  its  affections  to  Him  wrho 
formed  and  who  redeemed  you.  You  may  not  will  to  be 
altogether  wrought  upon  by  the  constraining  influence  of 
the  Saviour’s  love,  and  live  no  longer  to  yourselves  but  to 
Him  who  died  for  you,  and  who  rose  again.  No  ; you  may 
perhaps  like  better  to  go  on  in  the  old  and  wonted  "way,  and 
then  you  just  realize  upon  you  the  words  of  the  Saviour 
when  He  said — “ And  this  is  their  condemnation,  that  light 
is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than 
light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil.” 

But  O recollect,  my  brethren,  that  if  this  be  your  pres- 
ent state,  it  is  not  a state  w7hich  it  will  do  to  die  in ; it  is 
not  that  state  which  it  will  do  to  carry  to  the  grave  with 
you.  Here  we  are  alive  and  on  the  face  of  the  world. 
Think  of  the  ashes  of  the  many  generations  that  are  below 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


249 


you.  We  are  surrounded  by  the  monuments  of  the  dead, 
and  you  are  just  now  sitting  on  the  dust  of  men  of  other 
times.  In  a little  while,  and  you  will  lie  down  among 
them ; and  O how  many  souls  which  once  owned  these 
moldering  bodies  would  prize  the  opportunity  of  you  living 
men.  O in  what  lively  colors  do  they  see  the  folly  of  that 
desperate  infatuation  which  hung  over  them  during  their 
abode  in  the  world,  and  in  which  I call  on  you,  my  breth- 
ren, no  longer  to  harden  yourselves.  Go  not  to  say,  that 
it  is  time  enough.  The  call  is  to-day.  Let  alone  till  to- 
morrow, and  what  may  be  the  consequence  ? Some  may 
be  dead — many  will  be  out  of  the  way  of  those  arguments 
which  I am  now  bringing  to  bear  upon  you.  The  truths 
you  meet  with  here  you  will  not  so  readily  meet  with  at 
the  business  of  your  shops  and  your  farms  and  your  work- 
houses.  But,  most  impressive  consideration  of  all,  to-mor- 
row comes,  and  it  finds  one  and  all  of  you  who  now  resist 
the  call  still  harder  and  more  impenitent  than  to-day  found 
you.  You  are  hard  indeed  if  you  resist  this  day’s  call ; 
but  the  very  resistance  will  make  you  harder  still.  It  is  a 
mischief  which  grows  upon  you  every  hour.  He  who  is 
proof  against  the  solemnity  of  a present  warning  is  likelier 
far  to  be  proof  against  the  solemnity  of  a future  ; and  thus, 
my  brethren,  the  evil  grows  upon  you  continually.  Sin 
gains  a firmer  ascendency.  Satan  holds  you  more  closely 
in  his  wiles ; and  never  is  the  hardness  of  a human  heart 
seen  in  more  affecting  colors  than  it  often  is  in  an  old  man 
at  the  brink  of  eternity.  Hold  out  no  longer.  Feel  the 
necessity  of  some  great  movement  in  the  matters  of  relig- 
ion ere  you  die,  and  begin  at  this  moment  to  resolve,  and  to 
learn,  and  to  stir  yourselves  in  the  work  of  going  about  it. 
I will  not  try  any  other  eloquence  upon  such  a subject  than 
the  eloquence  of  simplicity  and  affection ; and  I therefore 
conclude  with  urging  it  as  my  warmest,  my  friendliest,  and 
most  earnest  adieu  to  you,  to  feel  the  impression  of  this  one 
truth — that  something  must  be  done  ; and  with  the  farewell 
voice  of  to-day,  while  it  is  called  to-day,  I beseech  you,  my 
dear  friends,  to  take  to  the  doing  of  it  immediately. 


SERMON  XVI. 


COLOSSIANS  II.  6. 

tl  As  ye  have  therefore  received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so  walk  ye  in  hiai.n 

Nothing  can  be  clearer  from  both  the  doctrine  and  ex- 
amples of  the  New  Testament,  than  that  a man  changes 
the  course  of  his  life  on  his  becoming,  in  the  true  sense  of 
the  term,  a Christian.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  receiving 
Christ,  and  after  that  walking  just  as  you  were  wont  to  do. 
Paul  tells  us  in  the  beginning  of  this  epistle,  that  he  was 
thankful  to  God  when  he  heard  of  the  faith  of  the  Colossians. 
In  the  verse  preceding  the  text  he  tells  us  that  he  joyed 
when  he  beheld  their  order.  There  was  a method  or  line 
of  proceeding  which  a man  who  adopts  the  faith  of  Christ 
must  necessarily  observe,  and  it  was  from  their  observance 
of  this  method  indeed  that  he  inferred  the  steadfastness  of 
their  faith  in  Christ.  There  is  such  a thing  as  learning 
Christ  differently  and  receiving  Him  differently ; and  ac- 
cording to  the  way  in  which  we  receive  Him  will  be  the 
way  in  which  we  shall  feel  it  our  duty  to  walk  in  Him. 
Some  receive  Him  as  a dispenser  of  forgiveness  only,  and 
they  walk  securely  on  in  the  commission  of  sin  ; others  add 
to  His  former  capacity  that  of  a teacher,  but  overlooking 
the  doctrine  of  being  able  to  do  nothing  without  Christ, 
they  satisfy  themselves  with  such  decencies  of  conduct  as 
they  can  observe — such  proprieties  of  civil  and  social  life 
as  they  can  act  up  to  even  on  other  principles  than  that  of 
submission  to  the  authority  of  Christ ; and  as  for  the  more 
spiritual  obedience  of  the  devoted  Christian,  they  make  no 
attempt  after  it,  but  just  do  as  they  can  in  their  own  strength, 
and  make  over  the  mighty  burden  of  all  their  deficiencies 
on  the  atonement  of  the  Saviour.  Others  again  receive 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


251 


Him  both  as  their  Sanctifier  and  Saviour,  and  they  never 
stop  short  at  any  one  point  of  attainment  under  the  feeling 
that  they  can  get  no  farther;  they  do  not  rest  satisfied  with 
the  civil  and  social  proprieties  of  life  under  the  impression 
that  their  nature  is  incapable  of  higher  or  larger  measures 
of  obedience.  They  know  that  the  believing  Christian  is 
backed  at  all  times  by  the  promised  aids  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  with  the  dispensation  of  which  Christ  their  Saviour  is 
intrusted,  who  has  become  Christ  their  Sanctifier  also  ; and 
therefore  counting  on  this  mighty  accession  of  strength  to 
all  their  endeavors,  they  do  not  strike  the  low  aim  of  luke- 
warm decency,  but  they  devote  themselves  to  the  obedience 
of  the  Gospel  in  all  the  extent  and  spirituality  of  its  require- 
ment— their  aim  is  to  be  perfect,  even  as  their  Father  in 
heaven  is  perfect.  From  the  more  obvious  right  things 
which  they  begun  with,  and  which  in  my  last  discourse  I 
urged  you  to  begin  with  immediately — such  as  fidelity  and 
plain-dealing  and  courteousness,  and  the  avoiding  of  all 
that  is  plainly  wrong,  and  such  other  moral  accomplish- 
ments as  the  world  can  admire,  and  as  worldly  men  with 
the  profession  of  Christianity  can  practice,  and  think  they 
do  enough — I say,  from  all  these  moral  accomplishments 
they  proceed  onward  to  higher  and  greater  things  than 
these.  I know  that  at  this  point  they  are  looked  upon  by 
the  men  that  are  without  to  have  entered  into  the  borders 
of  fanaticism.  They  are  abandoned  by  the  respect  and 
sympathy  of  neighbors ; they  are  looked  upon  as  having 
got  into  a visionary  region  of  feelings  and  spiritualities  and 
devotional  sentiment ; they  are  at  one  time  accused  of  in- 
difference to  good  works,  not  because  they  neglect  them, 
but  because,  with  every  diligence  in  the  doing  of  them,  they 
aspire  after  still  higher  and  better  accomplishments ; they 
are  at  another  time  charged  with  attempting  a pitch  of 
obedience  far  too  strict  and  elevated  and  holy  for  the  feeble 
powers  of  humanity,  and  so  they  readily  allow  it  to  be  ; but 
they  have  received  Christ  as  the  Lord  their  strength  as  well 
as  the  Lord  their  righteousness,  and  they  go  to  Him  daily 
upon  the  errand  of  getting  power  for  the  high  achievements 


252 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


of  a spiritual  obedience,  as  well  as  upon  the  errand  of  get- 
ting pardon  for  those  many  defects  of  which  they  are  most 
deeply  and  feelingly  sensible ; and  they  do  not  miss  their 
errand,  because  they  know  in  whom  it  is  that  they  have 
trusted,  and  an  actual  power  is  made  daily  to  rest  upon 
them  which  explains  the  whole  difference  in  point  of  attain- 
ment between  them  and  others,  and  on  the  strength  of 
Christ’s  supplies  they  not  only  outstrip  their  neighbors  upon 
the  ground  of  ordinary  and  familiar  duties,  but  they  are 
raised  to  an  impassable  distance  from  them ; and  in  the 
high  and  difficult  enterprise  of  charity  and  forbearance,  and 
devotion  of  self  and  all  its  interests  at  the  call  of  principle, 
and  habitual  sense  of  God  and  a constant  habit  of  acting 
to  His  glory,  they  carry  over  the  whole  face  of  their  history 
the  aspect  of  a very  peculiar  people,  causing  the  men  who 
are  without  at  one  time  to  laugh  and  at  another  to  wonder, 
and  at  another  to  yield  the  reluctant  homage  of  their  respect 
and  admiration. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  following  discourse,  I shall  enter 
more  at  large  into  the  three  different  ways  of  receiving 
Christ,  which  I have  rapidly  glanced  at  in  my  introduction, 
and  shall  attempt  to  lay  before  you  the  kind  of  walk  cor- 
responding to  each  of  these  ways. 

The  first  way  of  receiving  Christ  is  to  take  Him  for  the 
single  object  of  forgiveness ; the  second  is  to  take  Him  both 
as  a priest  who  has  wrought  out  forgiveness,  and  a teacher 
who  has  prescribed  a rule  of  life  to  us ; and  the  third  way 
is  to  take  Him  as  a priest  and  a teacher  and  a sanctifier, 
who,  in  this  last  capacity,  enables  us  who  so  receive  Him 
as  to  act  up  to  the  rule  of  life  laid  down  by  Him  as  our 
teacher. 

I.  The  first  way  of  receiving  Christ  I take  to  be  very 
common — a resting  in  Him  for  forgiveness  and  a willful 
going  on  in  sin  at  one  and  the  same  time — a taking  of  Him 
for  our  all-sufficient  atonement,  and  for  this  object  singly; 
and  what  is  the  walk  corresponding  to  this  view  of  the 
matter? — why,  just  such  a walk  as  you  may  see  often  ex- 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


253 


-emplified  in  zealous  professors  of  the  faith — men  of  declared 
and  very  ostensible  orthodoxy,  and  who  resist  all  admoni- 
tions to  duty,  just  as  if  their  resistance  formed  part  of  their 
creed.  I am  not  speaking  of  the  erroneous  speculations 
of  authors — I speak  of  the  practical  error  of  private  Chris- 
tians, and  I do  think  it  is  an  error  to  be  often  met  with 
among  men  who  have  a relish  for  doctrine  and  do  attend 
to  the  subject  of  their  acceptance  with  God.  Why,  they 
do  cultivate  a determined  confidence  in  the  sufficiency  of 
Christ  for  pardon,  and  just  as  if  they  liked  to  put  this  suffi- 
ciency to  the  trial,  they  go  on  contracting  new  sins  every 
day,  without  its  ever  occurring  to  them  that  to  make  head 
against  these  sins  and  to  cast  off  their  dominion,  formed 
part  of  their  calling  as  the  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  With 
the  exception  of  the  single  notion  they  have  gotten  from  the 
time  they  became  what  they  call  orthodox,  they  remain 
just  as  they  were.  This  notion  is  that  by  determinedly 
trusting  in  Christ  they  will  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  ail 
their  sins,  and  they  exercise  a kind  of  trust  which  quiets 
and  satisfies  them  in  the  mean  time,  but  in  every  other 
respect  they  are  quite  the  old  man — not  a single  vice  of 
heart  or  of  temper  or  of  conduct  that  does  not  remain  in  all 
its  strength  with  them  ; and  what  makes  the  case  still  more 
hopeless,  they  do  not  seem  to  think  that  to  struggle  against 
all  this  forms  any  part  of  their  business  as  Christians, 
Nay,  they  somehow  or  other  look  upon  any  anxiety  upon 
these  points  as  a thing  that  would  spoil  the  entireness  of 
their  orthodoxy.  It  would  betray  a want  of  faith  in  the 
sufficiency  of  Christ ; it  would  be  an  invasion  upon  His 
province  by  trying  to  do  themselves  what  He  has  power 
enough  to  do  for  them,  and  will  do  for  them  if  they  only 
believe.  It  is  to  take  the  honor  of  their  salvation  out  of 
His  hands ; and  thus  their  remissness  in  practice  has  got  a 
kind  of  principle  in  which  they  glory,  and  which  they  would 
think  it  wrong  if  they  gave  up,  to  rest  upon.  You  see, 
then,  how  difficult  it  must  be  to  dislodge  these  people  out 
of  the  stronghold  of  security  in  which  they  have  intrenched 
themselves,  and  how  hard  to  beat  them  out  of  their  indolence 


554 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


and  their  sin  when  being  free  from  all  anxiety  on  these  points 
forms  part  of  that  very  system  by  which  they  think  they 
are  doing  honor  to  the  Saviour.  Their  walk  in  all  ordinary 
matters  then  will  just  be  the  same  after  they  have  so  received 
Christ  as  before  they  received  Him.  There  may  be  a 
change  in  some  of  those  easier  and  more  practicable  things 
by  which  they  think  they  do  more  direct  honor  to  the  Saviour 
and  more  openly  testify  their  faith  and  their  attachment  to 
Him — such  as  more  frequent  attendance  on  His  express 
ordinances — more  exclusive  association  with  people  who 
think  as  they  do  themselves — more  decided  separation  from 
those  who  think  differently.  All  this  is  very  easy,  and  it  is 
acted  up  to  ; but  as  to  gentleness  in  domestic  life,  or  honesty 
in  social  life,  or  usefulness  in  public  life,  or  any  one  thing 
which  costs  them  a struggle  with  their  taste  or  temper  or 
inclination,  this  they  do  not  look  upon  as  forming  any  part 
of  their  calling  ; and  it  is  grievous  to  think  how  at  the  very 
moment  that  they  are  dividing  Christ,  or  worshiping  a Christ 
of  their  own,  or  taking  away  from  the  Christ  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament a number  of  His  revealed  characters,  and  shutting  out 
from  their  conscience  altogether  the  impressiveness  of  His 
solemn  remonstrance — “ Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do 
not  the  things  which  I say?” — it  is  truly  grievous  to  think  that 
all  the  time  they  look  upon  themselves  as  doing  Him  honor, 
and  that  Christ  is  magnified  by  them,  in  no  one  part  of  their 
conduct  do  they  ever  think  of  living  to  His  will,  but  to  their 
own. 

II.  But  there  is  another  class  of  professing  Christians 
who  are  so  far  scandalized  at  the  errors  and  abuses  of  those 
I have  already  noticed,  as  to  receive  Christ  for  a teacher  as 
well  as  for  an  atonement.  I think  I am  quite  sure  that  there 
is  a very  numerous  set  of  people  who  neither  discard  from 
them  the  notion  that  Christ’s  death  is  an  atonement  for  sin, 
nor  the  notion  that  Christ’s  will  has  a binding  authority  over 
the  conduct  of  all  His  disciples;  but  who  think  at  the  same 
time  that,  as  they  have  carried  their  own  natural  under- 
standing to  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  and  acquiesce  in 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


255 


it,  so  they  may  carry  their  own  natural  strength  to  the  per- 
formance of  the  duties,  and  be  able  to  accomplish  them  in 
such  a way  as  to  secure  their  acceptance  with  God.  Now, 
what  is  the  effect  of  this  ? In  their  own  strength  they  are 
able  to  do  many  things  without  any  sense  of  God’s  will 
urging  them  to  the  performance  at  all.  Is  it  not  quite  com- 
petent, for  example,  to  a man,  without  any  reference  to 
Christ  or  religion  whatever  in  his  heart,  to  feel  a movement 
of  compassion  at  the  sight  of  distress,  and  to  relieve  it — to 
feel  a movement  of  indignation  at  the  meanness  of  dishonesty, 
and  be  upright — to  feel  an  animating  glow  of  cordiality  in 
the  discharge  of  civil  and  friendly  attentions,  and  be  courteous 
— to  feel  all  the  delight  of  occupation  in  the  bustle  of  active 
and  useful  employment,  and  have  a public-spirited  readiness 
*o  all  good  works  ? Now,  it  so  happens  that  the  first  days 
of  professors  are  often  woefully  destitute  of  all  these  social 
accomplishments,  and  when  urged  to  them  by  the  will  of 
Christ,  they  bring  their  wrong-headed  orthodoxy  in  resist- 
ance to  them,  and  bring  a most  lamentable  discredit  on  the 
faith  which  they  profess,  by  a most  unlovely  and  revolting 
exhibition  of  all  that  is  sour  and  repulsive  in  ordinary  con- 
duct, combined  with  a system  of  religious  opinions,  stanch, 
intolerant,  flaming,  and  obstinately  adhered  to.  This  puts 
the  second  class  upon  high  vantage  ground,  and  much  may 
be  learned  from  what  each  of  them  is  heard  to  say  of  their 
dislike  or  opposition  to  the  other.  You  are  men  of  works, 
say  those  of  the  first  class ; but  we  have  Scripture  on  our 
side,  for  by  faith  is  a man  saved,  and  not  by  the  works  of 
the  law.  Our  confidence  is  as  much  better  grounded  than 
yours  as  the  purity  of  Christ’s  righteousness  exceeds  the 
purity  of  man’s  righteousness ; and  this,  combined  with  many 
texts  of  Scripture,  gives  these  people  the  appearance  of  some 
reason  and  a great  weight  of  Bible  authority  on  their  side. 
On  the  other  hand,  Ye  are  men  of  faith,  say  those  of  the 
second  class,  and  ye  dislike  works,  and  that  very  thing  of 
which  the  Bible  requires  us  to  be  zealous  you  discard  from 
your  system  altogether.  Nay,  you  go  so  far  as  to  fasten 
the  brand  of  heterodoxy  on  our  zeal  for  morality ; but  we 


256 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


have  Scripture  on  our  side  as  well  as  you,  and  by  the  cor- 
rectness of  our  conduct  and  the  native  claims  of  our  system 
— which  befriends  virtue — on  the  admiration  of  men,  we 
are  quite  sure  that  we  are  going  more  scripturally  about 
the  business  of  our  religion  than  you  who  despise  what  the 
Saviour  taught,  and  put  away  from  you  all  that  is  practical 
in  the  writings  of  His  apostles.  This  is  what  each  can  and 
does  say  of  the  other,  and  I call  upon  you  to  mark  the 
defects  of  each.  The  first  are  most  egregiously  wrong  by 
the  want  of  a zealous  and  hearty  concurrence  in  the  duties 
of  the  Christian  life,  and  they  do  not  see  afar  off,  and  they 
forget  that  every  true  Christian  is  purged  from  his  old  sins  ; 
and  they  are  blind  to  this  truth,  that  to  put  off  the  deeds  of 
the  old  man,  and  to  put  on  the  new  man  and  his  works, 
forms  a most  essential  part  of  their  calling  as  the  disciples 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  the  second  are  also  most  egregiously 
wrong,  for  they  are  blind  to  another  most  essential  truth — 
they  do  not  acknowledge  their  natural  inability  for  any  good 
thing — they  profess  to  receive  Christ  as  their  teacher,  but 
it  is  only  as  a teacher  of  those  things  which  they  can  do 
without  Him  strengthening  them — they  strike  the  low  aim 
of  such  duties  and  such  accomplishments  as  man  can  arrive 
at  by  his  own  strength — they  may  and  they  do  admit  the 
use  of  Christ  as  an  atonement,  for  they  allow  that  they  have 
their  infirmities,  and  that  He  by  His  death  wrought  out  an 
expiation  for  them  ; but  they  do  not  seem  to  think  that  there 
is  any  use  for  Christ  as  the  purifier  of  a degenerate  world 
from  that  corruption  which  the  world  cannot,  with  all  the 
force  of  its  natural  principles,  shake  off.  There  is  one  sense 
in  which  they  allow  Him  to  be  a purifier,  and  that  is  by 
the  tendency  of  His  sublime  and  excellent  precepts  to  re- 
form and  exalt  and  purify  the  whole  man.  And  so  they 
would  if  they  were  obeyed.  But  here  lies  the  very  point 
of  their  defectiveness.  They  think  it  is  enough  if  they  just 
yield  such  an  obedience  to  the  precepts  and  such  a con- 
formity to  the  example  of  Christ  as  they  find  themselves 
able  to  compass  and  to  make  out  in  their  own  strength. 
They  are  blind  to  the  truth,  that  in  order  to  these  precepts 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


257 


taking  effect  upon  them,  there  must  not  merely  be  a voice 
without — calling  upon  them  to  do,  but  a power  within — en- 
abling them  to  perform.  Now,  this  power  is  not  in  them 
by  nature  ; and  they  think  it  enough  if  they  just  yield  such 
a degree  of  obedience  as  nature  can  accomplish,  or,  in  other 
words,  no  spiritual  obedience  at  all.  The  power  must  be 
put  in  them  by  grace,  and  must  be  earnestly  prayed  for,  and 
must  go  along  with  every  one  exercise  of  duty,  and  thus  it 
is  that  Christ  acts  as  the  purifier  of  a corrupt  and  degenerate 
world,  not  merely  by  the  delivery  of  excellent  rules,  but 
by  the  dispensation  of  strength  for  acting  up  to  them.  And 
these  men  who  feel  not  the  necessity  of  this  strength — why, 
they  will  often  be  more  decent  and  orderly  and  kind  and 
upright  and  honorable  than  their  neighbors  around  them. 
There  are  natural  principles  in  the  constitution  of  man 
which  secure  a certain  measure  of  all  these  virtues  in  many 
individuals  of  the  race ; but  as  to  that  obedience  which  no 
other  strength  but  the  might  conferred  by  the  Spirit  on  the 
inner  man  can  accomplish — the  obedience  of  the  heart — 
the  obedience  of  love  to  God — the  obedience  of  self-devo- 
tion and  self-denial — the  obedience  of  not  being  conformed 
to  the  world,  and  the  setting  our  every  affection  on  the 
things  which  are  above  — the  obedience  to  which  the  con- 
straining love  of  Christ  can  alone  prompt  us,  and  which  the 
grace  of  Christ  can  alone  enable  us  to  yield,  even  that  of 
living  no  longer  to  ourselves,  but  to  Ebm  who  died  for  us, 
and  who  rose  again — why,  my  brethren  this  is  an  obedience 
which,  with  all  their  decencies  and  proprieties,  they  never 
think  of  aspiring  after — this  is  an  obedience,  the  very  attempt 
at  which  many  would  deride  as  fanatical  and  visionary  and 
enthusiastic.  This  is  an  obedience  which  the  first  class  put 
away  from  them  ; for,  occupied  as  they  are  with  the  single 
sentiment  of  dependence  on  tlfp#  righteousness  of  Christ, 
they  are  for  no  personal  obedience  of  their  own  at  all.  And 
this  is  an  obedience  which  the  wcond  class  equally  put 
awatf  from  them,  for  there  is  a something  else  at  which 
tbsy  stop  short  and  with  which  they  rest  satisfied — even 
'•hat  humble  measure  of  decency  and  propriety  and  social 


253 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


virtue  and  civil  accomplishment  which  any  man  of  any 
fortune  and  good  education  can  attain,  though  he  never 
apply  for  the  strengthening  influence  of  the  Spirit,  nor 
pray  in  the  name  of  Christ,  nor  avail  himself  of  that  peculiar 
provision  which  the  Gospel  has  instituted  for  redeeming  us 
from  all  iniquity,  and  purifying  us  unto  the  Son  of  God  a 
peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works. 

With  both  the  one  and  the  other  of  these  classes,  there 
is  a something  which  stands  in  the  way  of  their  vigorously 
pursuing  that  line  of  new  and  spiritual  obedience  which 
every  honest  Christian  aims  sincerely  to  make  progress  in. 
With  the  first,  it  is  the  sentiment  that  Christ  has  already 
wrought  out  a righteousness  for  them — and  it  is  true  that 
He  has  wrought  out  a righteousness  for  them  who  believe  ; 
but  how  can  they  be  said  to  believe  if  they  put  not  faith  in 
all  His  sayings,  and  if  one  of  the  most  solemn  and  authori- 
tative of  these  sayings,  “ Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see 
God,”  has  no  impression  upon  them.  With  the  second 
class,  it  is  the  sentiment  that  no  more  obedience  can  be 
exacted  from  me  than  that  which  I can  yield ; and  thus 
while  Paul  says  our  salvation  must  be  altogether  of  works 
or  altogether  of  grace,  they  eke  out  what  is  wanting  in  the 
one  by  what  they  have  done  in  the  other,  and  as  there  is 
no  saying  with  how  small  a portion  of  each  they  will  satisfy 
themselves,  their  obedience  will  be  no  more  than  the  strength 
of  nature  can  yield — that  nature  which  the  Bible  tells  us  is 
corrupt  and  alienated  from  God. 

III.  But  it  is  not  enough  that  you  receive  Christ  for  the 
single  object  of  forgiveness,  or  as  a priest  who  has  wrought 
out  an  atonement  for  you;  for  Christ  offers  Himself  in 
more  capacities  than  this  one,  and  you  do  not  receive  Him 
truly  unless  you  receive  Him  just  as  He  offers  Himself. 
Again,  it  is  not  enough  tliat  you  receive  Christ  only  as  a 
priest  and  a prophet ; for  all  that  He  teaches  will  be  to 
you  a dead  letter  unless  you  are  qualified  to  understand 
and  to  obey  it ; and  if  you  think  that  you  are  qualified  by 
nature,  you  in  fact  refuse  His  teaching  at  the  very  time 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY 


259 


that  you  profess  Him  to  be  your  teacher,  for  He  says, 
“ Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.”  You  must  receive  Him 
for  strength  as  well  as  for  forgiveness  and  direction  ; or, 
in  other  words,  you  must  submit  to  Him  as  your  King,  not 
merely  to  rule  over  you  by  His  law,  but  to  rule  in  you  by 
His  Spirit.  You  must  live  in  constant  dependence  on  the 
influences  of  His  grace,  and  if  you  do  so,  you  never  will 
stop  short  at  any  one  point  of  obedience,  but  knowing  that 
the  grace  of  God  is  all-powerful,  you  will  suffer  no  diffi- 
culties to  stop  your  progress ; you  will  suffer  no  paltry 
limit  of  what  unaided  human  nature  can  do,  to  bound  your 
ambition  after  the  glories  of  a purer  and  a better  character 
than  any  earthly  principle  can  accomplish  ; you  will  enter 
a career,  of  which  you  at  this  moment  see  not  the  end  ; 
you  will  try  an  ascent  of  which  the  lofty  eminence  is  hid 
in  the  darkness  of  futurity ; the  chilling  sentiment  that  no 
higher  obedience  is  expected  of  you,  than  of  yourself  you 
can  yield,  will  have  no  influence  upon  you,  for  the  mighty 
stretch  of  attainment  that  you  look  forward  to,  is  not  what 
you  can  do,  but  what  Christ  can  do  in  you ; and  with  the 
all-subduing  instrument  of  ILs  grace  to  help  you  through 
every  difficulty,  and  to  carry  you  in  triumph  over  every 
opposition,  you  will  press  forward  conquering  and  to  con- 
quer ; and  while  the  world  knoweth  not  the  power  of  those 
great  and  animating  hopes  which  sustain  you,  you  will  be 
making  daily  progress  in  a field  of  discipline  and  acquire- 
ment which  they  have  never  entered  ; and  in  patience  and 
forgiveness,  and  gentleness  and  charity,  and  the  love  of 
God  and  the  love  of  your  neighbor — which  is  like  unto  the 
love  of  God,  you  will  prove  that  a work  of  grace  is  going 
on  in  your  hearts,  even  that  work  by  which  the  image  you 
lost  at  the  fall  is  repaired  and  brought  back  again — the 
empire  of  sin  within  you  is  overthrown — the  subjection  of 
your  hearts  to  what  is  visible  and  earthly  is  exchanged  for 
the  power  of  the  unseen  world  over  its  every  affection — 
and  you  are  filled  with  such  a faith,  and  such  a love, 
and  such  a superiority  to  perishable  things,  as  will  shed  a 
glory  over  the  whole  of  your  dailv  walk,  and  give  to  every 


260 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


one  of  your  doings  the  high  character  of  a candidate  for 
eternity. 

Christ  is  offered  to  all  of  you  for  forgiveness.  The  man 
who  takes  Him  for  this  single  object  must  be  looking  at 
Him  with  an  eye  half-shut  upon  the  revelation  He  makes 
of  Himself.  Look  at  Him  with  an  open  and  a steadfast 
eye,  and  then  I will  call  you  a true  believer ; and  sure  I 
am,  that  if  you  do  so,  you  cannot  avoid  seeing  Him  in  the 
earnestness  of  His  desire  that  you  should  give  up  all  sin, 
and  enter  from  this  moment  into  all  obedience.  True,  and 
most  true,  my  brethren,  that  faith  will  save  you;  but  it 
must  be  a whole  faith  in  a whole  Bible.  True,  and  most 
true,  that  they  who  keep  the  commandments  of  Jesus  shall 
enter  into  life  ; but  you  are  not  to  shrink  from  any  one  of 
these  commandments,  or  to  say,  because  they  are  so  much 
above  the  power  of  humanity,  that  you  must  give  up  the 
task  of  attempting  them.  True,  and  most  true,  that  he 
who  trusteth  to  his  obedience  as  a Saviour,  is  shifting  his 
confidence  from  the  alone  foundation  it  can  rest  upon. 
Christ  is  your  Saviour ; and  when  I call  upon  you  to  re- 
joice in  that  reconciliation  which  is  through  Him,  I call 
upon  you  not  to  leave  Him  for  a single  moment,  when  you 
engage  in  the  work  of  doing  those  things  which  if  left 
undone,  will  exclude  us  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Take  Him  along  with  you  into  all  your  services.  Let  this 
sentiment  ever  be  upon  you, — What  I am  now  doing  I may 
do  in  my  own  strength  to  the  satisfaction  of  man  ; but  I 
must  have  the  power  of  Christ  resting  upon  the  perform- 
ance, if  I wish  to  do  it  in  the  way  that  is  acceptable  to 
God.  Let  this  be  your  habitual  sentiment,  and  then  the 
supposed  opposition  between  faith  and  works  vanishes  into 
nothing.  The  life  of  a believer  is  made  up  of  good  works; 
and  faith  is  the  animating  and  the  power- working  principle 
of  every  one  of  them.  The  Spirit  of  Christ  actuates  and 
sustains  the  whole  course  of  your  obedience.  You  walk 
not  away  from  Him,  but,  in  the  language  of  the  text,  you 
“ walk  in  him  ;”  and  as  there  is  not  one  of  your  doings  in 
which  He  does  not  feel  a concern,  and  prescribe  for  you  a 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


261 


duty,  so  there  is  not  one  of  them  in  which  His  grace  is  not 
in  readiness  to  put  the  right  principle  into  your  heart,  and 
to  bring  it  out  into  your  -conduct,  and  to  make  your  walk 
accord  with  your  profession,  so  as  to  let  th£  world  see 
upon  you  without,  the  power  and  the  efficacy  of  the  senti- 
ment within ; and  thus,  while  Christ  has  the  whole  merit 
of  your  forgiveness,  he  has  also  the  whole  merit  of  your 
sanctification  ; and  the  humble  and  deeply-felt  consciousness 
of  “ Nevertheless  not  me,  but  the  grace  of  God  that  is  in 
me,”  restores  to  Jesus  Christ  all  the  credit  and  all  the  glory 
which  belong  to  Him,  by  making  Him  your  only,  and  your 
perfect,  and  your  entire,  and  your  altogether  Saviour. 

Choose  Him,  then,  my  brethren,  choose  Him  as  the  Cap- 
tain of  your  salvation.  Let  Him  enter  into  your  hearts  by 
faith,  and  let  Him  dwell  continually  there.  Cultivate  a 
daily  intercourse  and  a growing  acquaintance  with  Him. 
O,  you  are  in  safe  company,  indeed,  when  your  fellowship 
is  with  Him?  The  shield  of  His  protecting  mediatorship 
is  ever  between  you  and  the  justice  of  God ; and  out  of 
His  fullness  there  goeth  a constant  stream,  to  nourish,  and 
to  animate,  and  to  strengthen  every  believer.  Why  should 
the  shifting  of  human  instruments  so  oppress  and  so  dis- 
courage you,  when  He  is  your  willing  friend ; when  He  is 
ever  present,  and  is  at  all  times  in  readiness  ; when  He,  the 
same  to-day,  yesterday,  and  for  ever  is  to  be  met  with  in 
every  place  ; and  while  His  disciples  here,  giving  way  to 
the  power  of  sight,  are  sorrowful,  and  in  great  heaviness, 
because  they  are  to  move  at  a distance  from  one  another, 
He,  my  brethren  has  His  eye  upon  all  neighborhoods  and 
all  countries,  and  will  at  length  gather  His  disciples  into 
one  eternal  family?  With  such  a Master  let  us  quit  our- 
selves like  men.  With  the  magnificence  of  eternity  before 
us,  let  time,  with  all  its  fluctuations,  dwindle  into  its  own 
littleness.  If  God  is  pleased  to  spare  me,  I trust  I shall 
often  meet  with  you  in  person,  even  on  this  side  of  the 
grave  ; but  if  not,  let  us  often  meet  in  prayer  at  the  mercy- 
seat  of  God.  While  we  occupy  different  places  on  earth, 
let  our  mutual  intercessions  for  each  other  go  to  one  place 


262 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSES  AT  KILMANY. 


in  heaven.  Let  the  Saviour  put  our  supplications  into  one 
censer ; and  be  assured,  my  brethren,  that  after  the  dear 
and  the  mu^h-loved  scenery  of  this  peaceful  vale  has  dis- 
appeared from  my  eye,  the  people  who  live  in  it  shall 
retain  a warm  and  an  ever-during  place  in  my  memory ; — 
and  this  mortal  body  must  be  stretched  on  the  bed  of  death, 
ere  the  heart  which  now  animates  it  can  resign  its  exercise 
of  longing  after  you,  and  praying  for  you,  that  you  may  so 
receive  Christ  Jesus,  and  so  walk  in  Him,  and  so  hold  fast 
the  things  you  have  gotten,  and  so  prove  that  the  labor  I 
have  had  amongst  you  has  not  been  in  vain  ; that  when  the 
sound  of  the  last  trumpet  awakens  us,  these  eyes  which  are 
now  bathed  in  tears  may  open  upon  a scene  of  eternal  bless- 
edness, and  we,  my  brethren,  whom  the  providence  of  God 
has  withdrawn  for  a little  while  from  one  another,  may  on 
that  day  be  found  side  by  side  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
everlasting  throne. 


SERMON  XVII. 


[In  September,  1815,  a series  of  sermons  was  preached  in  the  Tron  Church, 
Glasgow,  on  the  text,  Luke  i.  74.  One  of  them,  devoted  to  the  drawing  out 
of  the  distinction  between  the  fear  of  terror  and  the  fear  of  reverence,  was 
molded  afterwards  into  the  form  in  which  it  is  presented  in  Dr.  Chalmers’ 
Works,  vol.  x.  p.  195.  The  substance  of  the  succeeding  sermon  is  given  in 
the  discourse  which  follows.] 


LUKE  I.  74. 

“That  he  would  grant  unto  us,  that  we,  being  delivered  out  of  the  hand  of  our  enemies, 
might  serve  him  without  fear.” 

We  have  already  spoken  of  that  fear  which  has  God  for 
its  direct  and  personal  object,  and  regarding  which  the  Bible 
appears  to  exhibit  a set  of  contradictory  passages  that  we 
have  endeavored  to  reconcile.  But  there  is  another  fear 
distinct  from  that  which  we  entertain  towards  God  as  a per- 
son, though  it  stands  connected  with  one  of  the  fixed  and 
irreversible  ordinations  of  His  government — even  that  by 
which  the  holiness  of  man  in  time  is  made  indispensable  to 
his  happiness  in  eternity.  This  must  be  admitted  by  a 
Christian  disciple,  even  after  he,  by  the  faith  of  the  gospel, 
has  entered  into  reconciliation  with  God,  and  so  exchanged 
the  fear  of  terror  for  the  fear  of  reverence.  There  is  a host 
of  scriptural  testimonies  to  the  necessity  of  holiness,  which 
no  fair  inquirer  into  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  can  possibly 
withstand  ; and  indeed  the  very  same  faith  in  the  general 
veracity  of  the  Bible  which  leads  to  the  assurance  of  an 
efficacy  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  to  deliver  from  the  punish- 
ment of  sin,  leads  co-ordinately  to  the  assurance  that  with- 
out deliverance  also  from  the  power  of  sin  there  is  no  meet- 
ness  for  heaven,  and  can  be  no  entrance  into  the  delight  or 
the  glory  of  its  everlasting  habitations.  Now  the  fear  is 
lest  we  should  fall  short  of  this  heaven  just  by  falling  short 


264 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


of  this  holiness — a fear  which  remains,  and  ought  to  remain 
with  you,  even  after  having  accepted  of  Christ  as  your  Sav- 
iour. “ Let  us  therefore  fear,”  says  the  apostle,  “ lest  a 
promise  being  left  us  of  entering  into  His  rest  any  of  you 
should  seem  to  come  short  of  it.”  He  states  before  what 
the  grounds  were  of  such  an  apprehension.  One  of  them 
is  an  evil  heart — “ Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any 
of  you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief  in  departing  from  the  liv- 
ing God.”  Another  of  them  is  the  insidious  power  of  sin — 
“ Lest  any  of  you  be  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of 
sin.”  And  in  support  of  this  very  lesson  of  heedfulness  and 
fear  he  quotes  in  another  place  the  instances  of  those  who, 
after  having  performed  to  all  appearance  their  great  and 
initiatory  act  of  reconciliation  with  God,  fell  away,  and 
were  destroyed  of  Him.  They,  he  tells  us,  who  were  -bap- 
tized unto  Moses,  and  ate  and  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock, 
that  was  Christ — even  with  those  of  them  who  suffered 
themselves  to  be  overcome  by  temptation,  God  was  not 
well-pleased,  and  overthrew  them  in  the  wilderness.  And 
these  things  are  written  for  our  admonition — for  in  like 
manner  still  may  we  be  overthrown ; “ wherefore,”  he  con- 
cludes, “ let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he 
fall.” 

Now  the  things  which  move  us,  and  which  should  move 
us  to  fear,  are  the  likelihoods  of  such  a fall  whereby  we  are 
surrounded.  All  nature  and  experience  might  well  minis- 
ter to  our  apprehensions  upon  this  subject.  Did  we  but 
think  of  our  hearts,  and  of  their  constant  and  cleaving  un- 
godliness— did  we  look  back  upon  our  history,  and  reflect 
how  little  it  has  been  guided  by  the  principle,  or  adorned 
by  the  fruits  of  new  obedience — did  we  take  account  of  our 
affections,  and  of  their  still  abiding  earthliness,  so  like  unto 
that  carnality  wherewith  the  Bible  has  associated  death — 
did  we  even  take  account  of  our  doings,  according  to  which 
we  shall  either  be  received  or  rejected  at  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ — did  we  but  estimate  aright  our  constitutional 
facilities  to  what  is  evil,  our  leaden,  our  lethargic  apathy  to 
what  is  good — did  we  make  sound  and  true  computation 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


265 


of  the  strength  of  our  enemies,  the  sinful  tempers  and  pas- 
sions and  sensualities  which  are  within,  meeting  at  every 
turn  their  appropriate  objects  from  without,  and  plied,  most 
closely  and  urgently  plied  on  all  hands  by  the  importuni- 
ties of  a besetting  world — did  we  only  take  a just  cogniz- 
ance of  these  things,  then  by  the  very  prevalence  of  sight 
and  of  sense  over  faith,  we,  if  at  all  in  earnest  about  the 
matter,  must  feel  alarmed  by  the  fearful  chances  of  an 
arrest  and  an  overthrow  on  that  course  of  progressive  holi- 
ness which  is  the  alone  way  whereby  we  can  make  good 
our  escape  from  the  horrors  of  an  undone  eternity.  Were 
we,  in  the  language  of  Zacharias,  wholly  delivered  from 
the  hands  of  those  enemies,  then  might  we  serve  God  with- 
out fear  in  righteousness  and  holiness  before  him  all  the  days 
of  our  life  ; but  just  because  all  our  life  long  we  are  encom- 
passed by  those  enemies,  the  apostle  Paul  tells  us  to  “ work 
out  our  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling  and  just  because 
while  we  sojourn  in  the  flesh  they  do  continue  to  solicit  and 
to  annoy  us,  the  apostle  Peter  tells  us  to  “ pass  the  time  of 
our  sojourning  here  in  fear.” 

Now,  it  may  help  us  to  resolve  this  apparent  contrariety 
if  we  compare  two  passages  in  the  life  of  the  last  mentioned 
apostle,  and  from  which  we  shall  determine,  I think,  what 
the  fear  is  which  we  ought  to  cast  away,  and  what  the  fear 
which  we  ought  to  cherish  and  retain.  Peter  was,  upon 
one  occasion,  asked  by  our  Saviour  to  come  to  Him  as  He 
walked  upon  the  sea.  He  obeyed  ; but  no  sooner  did  he. 
venture  himself  upon  the  water  than  his  heart  gave  way. 
He  knew  that  he  could  not  walk  there  in  his  own  strength, 
and  that  unless  buoyed  up  by  a miraculous  power  he  would 
sink  to  the  bottom  and  perish.  Now  faith  in  the  miraculous 
power  of  Him  whom  he  had  every  reason  to  trust  was  the 
very  thing  which  should  have  supported  his  intrepidity ; 
but  this  faith  he  wanted,  and  so  he  was  afraid,  and  drew 
this  rebuke  upon  himself — “ O thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore 
didst  thou  doubt?”  Here  Peter  sinned  in  that  he  feared, 
because  his  was  at  this  time  a fear  opposed  to  faith  in  the 
power  and  kindness  of  the  Saviour. 

VOL.  VI. M 


266 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


Go  now  to  another  passage  of  his  life — when  he  strongly 
asserted,  in  the  hearing  of  his  Master,  that  he  never  would 
deny  Him — confident  that  though  all  the  rest  of  the  disciples 
should  be  baffled  and  give  way,  he  would  meet  the  coming 
temptation  like  a man,  and  that  like  a man  he  would  conquer 
it.  Now,  on  what  ground  did  he  feel  a confidence  so  fear- 
less? Did  he  calculate  on  strength  from  his  Master  to  sup- 
port him  ? No ! had  he  rested  his  confidence  on  this  he 
would  not  have  disgraced  himself ; but  he  evidently  spoke 
in  the  tone  of  a man  who  counted  on  his  own  strength — of 
a man  conscious  that  within  him  there  was  a firmness  of 
principle  altogether  competent  of  itself  for  the  struggle  that 
was  approaching.  It  had  been  well  if,  looking  to  the  power 
and  promise  of  the  Saviour,  he  had  felt  fearless  ; but  all  the 
fearlessness  that  he  felt  was  on  looking  to  himself  and  to  the 
energy  of  his  own  purposes — and  therefore  it  was  that  as 
in  the  former  instance  he  sinned  in  having  feared,  so  in  the 
present  instance  he  sinned  in  having  not  feared.  Had  he 
been  more  distrustful  of  himself,  more  aware  of  the  inade- 
quacy of  his  own  strength  to  meet  the  coming  trial  and  to 
conquer  it,  he  would  have  feared,  and  feared  on  the  right 
ground.  Had  this  fear  clothed  him  with  humility,  and 
caused  him  to  transfer  his  dependence  from  himself  unto 
the  Saviour,  he  would  have  been  courageous,  and  coura- 
geous on  the  right  ground — and  it  were  a confidence  that 
would  not  have  been  put  to  shame,  for  then  would  he  have 
been  in  the  way  of  the  promise — that  the  God  who  resisteth 
the  proud  giveth  grace  unto  the  humble. 

The  history  of  this  apostle  after  the  resurrection  illus- 
trates the  matter  still  more.  It  is  quite  palpable  that  he 
then  underwent  a great  moral  transformation,  and  conduct- 
ed himself  with  a decision  and  an  energy  before  unknown 
to  him — preaching  the  word  with  all  boldness,  and,  with 
only  one  recorded  exception,  doing  the  whole  work  of  an 
apostle  in  a way  the  most  firm  and  unfaltering — insomuch 
that  faithful  to  his  dangerous  commission,  he  kept  by  it  in  the 
face  of  imprisonments  and  persecutions,  and  at  length  closed 
an  honorable  life  by  the  agonies  of  a painful  martyrdom. 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


267 


Now,  what  was  it  that  caused  this  revolution?  What  new 
and  better  principle  was  that  which  seems  now  to  have 
sustained  him  ? Be  assured  that  it  consisted  in  his  now 
fearing  on  the  right  ground,  and  in  his  having  faith  on  the 
right  ground.  He  feared  when  and  where  it  was  proper ; 
and  he  feared  not,  when  and  where  it  was  proper.  When, 
on  looking  to  the  trials  that  beset  or  that  awaited  him,  he 
measured  them  with  his  own  strength,  then  he  had  the 
fear — when  he  measured  them  with  the  strength  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  then  he  had  the  faith.  In  a word,  he  put  no 
confidence  in  himself,  knowing  that  in  himself,  that  is,  in 
his  flesh,  there  dwelt  no  good  thing — he  put  all  his  confi- 
dence in  the  Saviour,  knowing  that  he  could  do  all  things 
through  Christ  strengthening  him.  And  so  the  confidence 
which  he  expressed  after  the  resurrection  differed  exceed- 
ingly from  the  confidence  which  he  felt  before  it.  “Think 
not,”  he  said,  after  the  achievement  of  a wondrous  miracle, 
“that  by  our  own  power  or  holiness  we  have  done  this 
thing;  it  is  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  by  faith  in  His  name, 
and  through  the  faith  which  is  by  Him,  that  we  have  been 
enabled  to  do  this  thing  in  the  presence  of  you  all.” 

Now,  this  mixture  of  fear  in  reference  to  the  weakness 
of  one’s  self,  and  of  faith  in  reference  to  the  power  and 
promise  of  God,  both  acting  contemporaneously  together, 
might  appear  a mystery  in  your  eyes.  You  may  feel  a 
difficulty  in  conceiving  what  the  posture  of  the  mind  can 
be  when  thus  acted  upon — or  how  it  is  that  two  principles 
so  opposite  in  their  nature  should  exist  in  the  heart  at  the 
same  time,  and  bear  at  once  upon  the  mechanism  of  the 
human  spirit.  At  first  sight  it  may  not  be  clear  to  you  by 
what  sort  of  moral  dynamics,  or  by  what  composition  of 
forces  it  is  that  the  mind,  when  thus  under  two  impulses, 
betakes  itself  to  the  one  right  and  determinate  path.  You 
must  admit  the  great  practical  importance  of  the  question, 
affecting  as  it  does  the  whole  habit  and  history  of  a believ- 
er— and  you  will  therefore  excuse  us  if,  in  our  attempts  at 
explicitness,  we  shall  not  be  disdainful  even  of  the  very 
homeliest  illustrations. 


268  THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 

Our  first  illustration  is  taken  from  infancy — when  the 
child  makes  its  first  attempts  to  walk.  Here  the  two  prin- 
ciples are  working  together  at  the  same  moment — first,  a 
fearfulness,  in  virtue  of  which  it  will  not  let  go  the  hold  of 
its  nurse’s  hand ; and  secondly,  a confidence,  that  while 
keeping  its  hold  firmly  it  will  be  supported  and  in  safety 
during  its  whole  adventure  across  the  floor.  Fear  on  the 
one  hand,  and  faith  on  the  other,  are  both  in  operation,  and 
both  necessary.  Extinguish  the  principle  of  fear  altogether, 
and  the  child  committing  itself  too  early  to  its  own  strength, 
will  inevitably  fall.  Extinguish  the  principle  of  faith  alto- 
gether, and  the  child  having  no  confidence  even  in  the 
effectual  support  held  out  by  the  hands  of  its  attendant, 
might  never  attempt  the  exercise  of  walking,  and  so  re- 
main in  impotency  all  its  days.  And  thus  the  mingled 
operation  of  these  two  principles  so  far  from  being  that 
recondite,  that  unpractical  thing  which  people  alike  unob- 
servant of  the  Bible  and  of  human  nature  regard  it  to  be, 
is  a thing  of  current  and  most  obvious  exemplification  in 
the  experience  of  every  family. 

Should  our  second  illustration  be  now  deemed  utterly 
superfluous,  and  perhaps  even  nauseated,  as  you  would  the 
insipidity  of  any  overdone  excess — we  must  still  plead  the 
magnitude  of  the  lesson,  and  our  urgent  feeling  of  that 
magnitude.  I may  be  Conscious  of  inability  to  swim  across 
a river,  and  nevertheless  commit  myself  fearlessly  to  its 
waters,  should  a rope  be  handed  out  to  me  from  the  vessel 
that  is  passing  over  it.  Here,  too,  we  have  the  joint  opera- 
tion of  both  principles : — Fear  in  reference  to  my  own 
power  of  self  support,  restrains  me  from  letting  go  my 
hold — faith  in  the  strength  and  tightness  of  the  rope,  gives 
me  a feeling  of  perfect  security  while  I retain  my  hold. 
Both  principles,  however  opposite  in  their  nature,  incline 
me  to  the  one  thing  of  keeping  firmly  and  constantly  by 
the  rope.  Were  I confident  that  I had  no  need  of  it,  I 
might  fling  it  indignantly  away  from  me,  and  should  my 
confidence  be  presumption,  I might  sink  to  the  bottom  and 
perish.  But  I fear,  and  therefore  keep  by  it  as  my  only 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


269 


dependence.  Were  I fearful  of  the  rope’s  strength,  and 
trembled  lest  when  I took  my  hold  of  it,  it  should  break  or 
separate  from  the  vessel,  I might  refuse  its  aid,  and  rather 
keep  my  hands  in  the  exercise  of  swimming.  Give  me  the 
right  fear — that  is  a fearful  sense  of  my  own  weakness  and 
inability  to  swim  ; and  the  right  faith — that  is  a faith  in  the 
perfect  security  of  the  rope  which  I hold  by;  and  these 
principles,  so  far  from  contravening  each  other,  do  in  fact 
conspire  to  the  one  result  of  making  me  cleave  with  full 
purpose  of  heart  to  that  only  support  by  which  I can  be 
carried  fearlessly  through  the  river,  and  brought  in  safety 
to  the  other  side  of  it. 

And  it  is  just  by  such  a fear  and  by  such  a faith  that  we 
make  our  way  into  heaven  across  the  troubled  sea  of  this 
world.  These  two  are  not  distracting  forces  which  draw 
in  opposite  ways.  The  one  verily  shuts  up  into  the  other. 
It  is  just  when  we  look  abroad  upon  the  adverse  influences 
of  sense  and  of  society,  and  then  bethink  ourselves  of  our 
own  utter  inadequacy  to  cope  with  them — it  is  when  ad- 
monished by  inward  experience  of  our  constant  tendency 
to  relinquish  all  dependence  and  all  desire  towards  God — 
it  is  the  frequent  obscuration  of  Him  in  our  own  spirits, 
that  sublimed  although  they  may  have  somewhat  been,  in 
hours  of  stillness  and  seclusion  to  the  ethereal  brightness 
of  the  upper  regions,  yet  that  ever  and  anon  on  our  return, 
whether  to  the  world’s  business  or  to  the  world’s  companies, 
they  lapse  again  into  earthliness,  and  grovel  there — it  is  this 
perpetual  finding,  that  however  able  to  maintain  in  conduct 
those  equities  of  action  amongst  our  fellows  which  belong 
to  the  virtue  of  righteousness,  yet  that  we  utterly  and 
throughout  every  hour  of  our  lives  fail  in  those  sanctities 
of  affection  towards  God  which  constitute  the  virtue  of 
holiness — these  are  the  experiences  which  must  at  length 
school  every  honest  inquirer  into  an  utter  fearfulness  of 
himself,  a distrust,  a most  warrantable  and  well-founded 
distrust  in  all  the  resources  of  his  own  strength  and  of  his 
own  wisdom.  It  is  this  often-tried  and  as  often  ascertained 
deficiency  of  nature,  which  reconciles  him  to  the  doctrine 


270 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


of  a grace  that  might  put  strength  into  nature  for  the  whole 
work  and  warfare  of  obedience.  Looking  to  the  impotency 
of  the  one,  there  is  fear ; looking  to  the  sufficiency  of  the 
other,  there  is  faith.  Both  are  salutary.  In  virtue  of  the 
first,  he  has  a perpetual  distrust  in  himself ; in  virtue  of  the 
second,  he  has  a perpetual  dependence  on  the  Lord  Jesus. 
There  is  no  conflict  between  these  feelings — they  work,  as 
it  were,  to  one  another’s  hands.  The  movement  to  which 
they  give  rise  is  first  an  export  of  prayer  from  the  soul  to 
heaven’s  sanctuary ; and  secondly,  an  import  of  power 
from  heaven’s  sanctuary  into  the  soul.  It  is  this  habitual 
sense  of  weakness  which  excites  to  habitual  prayer — it  is 
this  habitual  prayer  which  brings  down  the  habitual  sup- 
plies of  strength  and  of  grace  for  all  services.  The  man 
works  mightily  because  God  works  in  him  mightily.  He 
realizes  the  great  paradox  of  the  Christian  life,  that  when 
he  is  weak  then  he  is  strong — that  when  deepest  in  humil- 
ity he  is  borne  most  steadfastly  upward  and  onward  along 
the  heights  of  an  angelic  sacredness. 

These  views  are  in  full  harmony  with  Scripture  ; and  did 
we  but  take  along  with  us  what  that  is  which  we  should 
feel  fear  about,  and  again,  what  that  is  which  we  should 
put  faith  in,  we  could  be  at  no  loss  to  understand  either  how 
the  psalmist  could  mix  trembling  with  his  mirth,  or  how 
the  apostle  could  be  always  sorrowful  yet  always  rejoicing. 
“ When  I said,  my  foot  slippeth,”  saith  David,  “ thy  mercy, 
O Lord,  held  me  up.”  On  looking  to  one  quarter,  even  to 
that  of  sense  and  of  nature,  we  might  well  tremble  before 
those  adverse  influences  by  which  the  heart  of  man  is 
wholly  secularized,  and  his  history  becomes  that  of  an 
earthly,  carnal,  and  alienated  creature.  On  looking  to  the 
other  quarter,  even  to  that  where  the  fullness  of  grace  is 
treasured  up,  and  whence  it  issues  forth  on  the  praying  and 
the  watching  and  the  working  disciple — it  might  well  re- 
joice in  those  precious  influences  from  heaven  by  which  the 
heart  of  man  is  impregnated  with  its  own  sacredness,  and 
his  history  becomes  that  of  a prosperous  aspirant  after  its 
glory  and  immortality  and  honor.  Could  he,  without  any 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


271 


hold  on  the  support  that  is  above  him,  make  his  own  way 
on  the  ascent  of  a progressive  holiness,  then  he  need  not 
tremble  ; or  even  were  it  quite  natural  for  him  to  keep  that 
hold  at  all  times,  then  might  he  persist  in  a sort  of  unbroken 
and  undisturbed  security  of  heart,  while  the  temptations  of 
life  play  idly  around  him.  But,  in  point  of  truth,  there  is  a 
constant  aptitude  to  let  go  the  hold,  and  every  intelligent 
Christian  is  conscious  thereof,  and  so  he  is  kept,  and  that 
perpetually,  on  the  alert  and  the  alarm — fearful,  on  the  one 
hand,  lest  he  should  quit  his  dependence,  and  confident,  on 
the  other,  that  so  long  as  he  retains  it  he  is  safe.  You  can 
imagine  the  light  and  evidence  wherewith  the  sacred 
volume  stands  forth  to  the  eye  of  a believer,  when  made  to 
observe  how  precisely  the  descriptions  of  the  Bible  accord 
with  all  the  developments  of  an  experience  so  very  peculiar. 
When  called  upon  to  fear — as  in  the  first  verse  of  the  fourth 
chapter  of  the  Hebrews — lest  he  should  come  short  of  the 
promised  rest,  he  knows  well  what  that  is  which  should 
make  him  afraid.  But  this  very  fear,  founded  on  a distrust 
of  his  own  powers,  shuts  him  up  unto  another  dependence 
— and  when  called  upon  in  the  last  verse  of  the  same  chap- 
ter, to  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace,  that  he  may  find 
grace  to  help  him  in  the  time  of  need,  he  knows  well  what 
that  is  which  should  make  him  courageous.  This  delicate 
alternation  between  the  two  feelings,  st>  often  adverted  to 
in  the  Bible,  and  so  accurately  reflected  in  the  personal 
history  of  a believer, . affords  that  very  correspondence 
between  the  tablet  of  human  nature  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  tablet  of  revelation  on  the  other,  which  warrants  a still 
more  intimate  conviction  than  before  of  God  being  the 
common  author  or  architect  of  both.  Meanwhile,  too,  he 
practices  the  lesson  of  serving  God  both  without  fear  and 
with  fear — without  fear  on  the  calculation  that  he  makes 
of  God’s  promises — with  fear  on  the  calculation  he  makes 
of  his  own  powers.  The  sense  of  his  own  helplessness 
will  make  him  fearful  of  depending  upon  it.  The  sense  of 
God’s  truth  in  the  promises  will  make  him  faithful  in  depend- 
ing upon  it.  The  faith  and  the  fear  are  embodied  by  him 


272 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


into  one  act  of  obedience,  even  as  within  the  limits  of  a 
single  verse  they  have  been  embodied  by  the  apostle  into 
one  precept.  He  tells  the  Gentiles  not  to  boast  themselves 
against  the  children  of  Israel ; — and  why  ? because  it  was 
by  faith  only  that  they  stood — “ And  be  not  therefore,”  he 
says,  “ high-minded,  but  fear.”  Here,  and  within  the  com- 
pass of  one  utterance,  the  right  fear  and  the  right  faith  are 
both  contemporaneously  pressed  upon  them.  The  right 
fear  would  keep  them  from  boasting,  allied  as  it  was  with 
the  sentiment  that  although  they  stood,  it  was  by  no  power 
or  holiness  of  their  own.  The  right  faith  would  direct  their 
eye  to  that  fountain  of  grace  which  was  above  them,  and 
whence  they  drew  those  supplies  of  light  and  of  strength, 
which  from  the  unbelieving  Jews  had  been  withholden,  and 
as  they  looked  to  that  God  who  alone  made  them  to  differ, 
they  would  not  be  high-minded. 

But  the  most  complete  scriptural  illustration  of  this  doc- 
trine which  can  be  given,  is  from  that  celebrated  passage 
where  the  apostle  tells  his  converts  to  work  out  their  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  because  it  is  God  that 
worketh  in  them  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleas- 
ure. It  is  conceivable  how  a man  should  both  will  aright 
and  work  aright  in  virtue  of  an  influence  from  heaven,  and 
how,  to  obtain  this  influence,  a prayer  should  arise  from 
the  heart,  and  a power  should  come  down  both  upon  the 
heart  and  upon  the  hand  for  all  the  services  of  a vigorous 
and  an  active  obedience.  But  why  should  there  be  a fear 
or  trembling  in  this  process  ? The  fear  is  lest,  among  the 
besetting  urgencies  of  sense  and  of  nature,  we  should  be 
tempted  to  forget  God,  and  so  He  should  withdraw  His 
helping  hand  from  us.  The  fear  is  lest,  in  the  confidence 
of  nature,  we  should  go  forth  against  the  adverse  influences 
by  which  we  are  surrounded,  and  so  be  overcome.  The 
fear  is  lest  we  should  lose  our  hold  of  God,  and  so  He,  quit- 
ting His  hold  of  us,  and  abandoning  us  to  our  own  unaided 
impotency,  should  leave  us  to  the  disgrace  and  the  ruin  of 
a fatal  overthrow.  The  fear  is  lest,  not  praying  as  we 
ought,  we  should  be  deprived  of  the  needful  element  for 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


273 


right  and  acceptable  performance  ; and,  most  important  of 
all,  the  fear  is  lest,  not  performing  as  we  ought,  we  should 
provoke  God  to  withhold  His  answers  of  grace  and  of  gra- 
ciousness from  our  prayers.  It  is  this  last  which  harmon- 
izes man  s utmost  activity  with  man’s  utmost  dependence. 
This  is  the  state  of  it:  he  does  all  that  he  can  with  the 
strength  which  he  now  has,  and  he  looks  to  God  for  that 
strength  being  kept  up  and  extended.  He  knows  that  if  he 
do  not  work  up  to  the  power  which  is  at  present  in  him, 
that  power  will  not  bei  added  to,  and,  what  is  more,  that 
even  such  as  it  is,  it  may  be  withdrawn.  He  knows  that  if 
he  do  not  trade  with  all  diligence  on  the  actual  stock  of 
grace,  this  stock  will  be  actually  diminished.  Whatever, 
therefore,  in  the  way  of  duty  or  of  service,  his  hand  findeth 
to  do  he  doeth  it  with  all  his  existing  might,  lest  deserted 
in  wrath  by  the  sustaining  might  of  God,  he  should  not  only 
be  arrested  in  his  progress  towards  the  strength  and  the 
stature  of  a more  advanced  Christianity,  but  should  decline 
into  the  utter  impotency  of  one  who  is  altogether  without 
grace  and  without  godliness.  It  is  precisely  because  God 
worketh  in  him  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure,  that 
he  fears  lest  that  good  pleasure  should  be  forfeited  in  the 
time  that  is  to  come  by  his  careless  and  remiss  improve- 
ment of  all  which  it  has  done  for  him  in  the  time  that  now 
is.  The  precise  reason  why  so  strenuous  and  so  busy  and 
so  much  on  the  alert  in  stirring  up  and  putting  to  its  prac- 
tical use  the  gift  that  is  in  him,  is,  that  if  he  do  not  he  will 
receive  no  more  gifts,  and  what  h**  has  will  be  taken  away. 
A more  plain  and  also  more  powerful  incitement  to  all  dil- 
igence, and  that  throughout  every  single  instant  of  his 
course,  cannot  well  be  conceived  than  that  if  he  do  not  at 
this  instant  work  to  the  uttermost  of  that  ability  wherewith 
the  Spirit  has  now  invested  him,  the  Spirit  will  be  grieved, 
and  may,  on  the  very  next  instant,  abandon  him  to  his  own 
unsupported  feebleness.  The  relation  between  the  hand 
that  works  and  the  hand  by  which  it  is  strengthened,  fur- 
nishes the  very  strongest,  and  at  the  same  time  most  intel- 
ligible motive  to  steady,  faithful,  and  enduring  obedience- 

M* 


274 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


The  man  works  out  his  salvation  upon  the  strength  of  what 
God  has  wrought  into  him  ; and  he  does  it  with  fear  and 
trembling,  just  because  most  fearfully  and  tremblingly  alive 
to  the  thought,  that  if  he  does  not,  God  may  cease  working 
in  him  to  will  any  more  or  to  do  any  more.  The  doctrine 
of  grace,  thus  understgod,  so  far  from  acting  as  an  extin- 
guisher upon  human  activity,  is  in  truth  the  very  best  ex- 
citement to  it.  This  dependence  between  the  busy  exer- 
cise of  all  your  present  graces  and  the  supply  of  new,  is  the 
fittest  possible  tenure  on  the  part  of  God  whereby  to  hold 
man  to  his  most  constant,  most  careful,  most  vigilant  obe- 
dience. It  is  felt  that  the  only  way  of  obtaining  enlarge- 
ment and  vigor  for  future  services,  is  to  acquit  one’s  self  to 
the  uttermost  of  his  present  strength  of  all  his  present  serv- 
ices ; and  that  thus,  and  thus  alone,  he  can  step  by  step 
work  his  ascending  way  to  a higher  and  a higher  status  in 
practical  Christianity.  We  are  aware  of  the  reproach  that 
has  been  cast  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit’s  influences  ; but 
we  trust  it  will  be  seen  from  these  views,  however  imper- 
fectly given,  that  he  who  labors  in  all  the  present  might 
given,  and  looks  for  more,  instead  of  living  in  the  mystic 
state  of  an  indolent  and  expectant  quietism,  he  of  all  other 
men  is  the  most  awake  to  every  call  of  duty — the  most 
painstaking  and  arduous  in  every  performance  of  it. 

There  is  nothing  in  that  mercy  which  descends  upon  us 
from  heaven  to  supersede  the  activities  of  men  upon  earth. 
Instead  of  superseding,  its  very  design  is  to  stimulate  these 
activities.  When  it  works  in  us,  its  precise  outgoing  is 
just  to  set  us  working.  Had  it  operated  by  an  outward  or 
physical  constraint  upon  the  hand,  then  might  it  only  have 
worked  on  us  to  do.  But  it  operates  on  the  inner  man,  and 
so  as  to  gain  the  consent  of  the  heart ; and  accordingly 
works  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do.  It  acts  in  truth  by  the 
influence  of  moral  suasion,  and  addresses  itself  to  the  vari- 
ous parts  and  principles  of  our  moral  nature.  The  man  in- 
stead of  being  driven  by  a force  from  without,  is  really  and 
in  substance  under  the  government  of  his  own  feelings — 
but  these  are  feelings  capable  it  would  appear  of  being  re- 


THE  RIGHT  FEAR  AND  THE  RIGHT  FAITH. 


271 


fined  and  elevated  by  the  influence  of  that  supreme  virtue 
which  is  above  us,  even  as  we  experimentally  know  that 
they  are  capable  of  being  refined  and  elevated  by  the  influ- 
ence* of  that  social  virtue  which  beams  upon  us  from  the 
companionship  of  a good  and  well-principled  society  around 
us.  At  all  events,  the  thing  is  misunderstood  if  you  con- 
ceive of  him  who  has  been  quickened  into  action  by  a touch 
from  the  upper  sanctuary,  that  he  is  therefore  set  aside 
from  the  exertion  of  his  own  powers,  and  the  guidance  or 
the  control  of  his  own  purposes.  The  visitation,  in  fact,  is 
upon  the  inward  powers'  and  sensibilities,  not  of  a dead  but 
of  a living  mechanism,  and  the  effect  of  it  is  not  to  over- 
bear any  of  the  proper  functions  of  the  man,  but  to  set  all 
his  powers  and  purposes  and  inward  principles  in  action. 
Accordingly,  in  our  text,  the  effect  of  God’s  having  visited 
and  redeemed  His  people,  is  that  His  people  serve  Him. 
Upholden  though  they  be,  and  led  although  they  be  by  the 
hand  stretched  forth  upon  them  from  heaven,  it  is  a hand 
not  of  impulse  upon  matter  but  of  application  to  mind,  and 
which  acts  on  that  mind  in  sweetest  unison  with  all  its  fac- 
ulties, insomuch  that  these  children  of  grace,  instead  of  idly 
waiting  in  the  anticipation  of  what  is  to  come,  are  most 
strenuously  and  laboriously  working  under  the  ascendency 
of  a moral  force  that  is  present,  and  which  bears  upon  the 
heart  as  well  as  on  the  hand.  We  deceive  ourselves  then 
if  we  think  that  under  the  economy  of  the  Gospel  we  are 
exempted  from  the  assiduities  of  service  ; and  although  we 
shall  never  move  aright  unless  breathed  upon  by  an  influ- 
ence from  above,  yet  he  only  has  indeed  partaken  of  that 
influence  who,  in  practical  deference  to  the  authority  of 
God  as  his  Master,  holds  forth  in  the  history  of  his  life  the 
aspect  of  a willing  and  a doing  and  a stirring  and  a pains- 
taking obedience. 


SERMON  XVIII. 

[Preached  at  Glasgow,  October  29,  1815.] 

II.  CORINTHIANS  VI.  17, 18. 

“ Wherefore,  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  toucn 
not  the  unclean  thing ; and  I will  receive  you,  and  will  be  a Father  unto  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty.” 

You  will  observe  that  Paul  in  these  verses  is  addressing 
a number  of  professed  Christians,  who  were  surrounded 
with  the  allurements  of  idolatry.  There  was  a power  of 
temptation  in  these  allurements  greater  than  they  have  ever 
thought  of  to  whom  the  profligacies  of  the  pagan  worship 
are  unknown ; but  the  apostle,  whose  converts  lived  in  the 
midst  of  them,  was  aware  of  the  constant  vigilance  they 
would  have  to  maintain  among  the  constant  opportunities 
and  solicitations  which  beset  them  in  every  quarter.  He 
watched  over  them  with  a godly  jealousy.  He  feared  for 
them  even  to  painfulness.  His  apprehension  was  that  he 
would  again  lose  them ; and,  aware  of  the  danger  that  lay 
even  in  their  most  distant  approaches  to  the  objects  of  that 
enticing  ritual,  he  insists  on  a clean  and  total  separation. 
It  is  under  a feeling  of  the  hazard  to  which  they  were  ex- 
posed that  he  calls  upon  them,  in  a former  epistle,  to  beware 
of  security : “ Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed 
lest  he  fall.”  It  is  with  a reference  to  the  very  same  sub- 
ject that  he  calls  upon  them  to  beware  also  of  a despairing 
sense  of  helplessness,  under  the  force  of  these  surrounding 
temptations.  He  commits  them  to  the  faithfulness  of  God. 
“ There  hath  no  temptation  taken  you  but  such  as  is  com- 
mon to  men  ; but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to 
be  tempted  above  that  you  are  able;  but  will  with  the 
temptation  also  make  a way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


277 


to  bear  it.”  And  having  thus  put  them  into  the  right  atti- 
tude for  resisting  temptation,  or,  in  other  words,  having  on 
the  one  hand  given  them  the  right  fear,  that  is,  a fear  of 
themselves,  in  virtue  of  which  they  would  take  heed — and 
the  right  faith,  that  is,  faith  in  God,  in  virtue  of  which  they 
would  receive  the  fulfillment  of  His  promises — he  makes 
the  whole  to  bear  on  the  great  practical  object  that  he  had 
in  his  eye,  and  proves  the  deep  impression  of  his  mind  on 
the  subject  of  idolatry  and  of  its  dangers,  when,  after  fur- 
nishing them  with  the  right  answer,  and  putting  them  into 
the  right  attitude  of  resistance,  he  winds  up  the  whole  ar- 
gument by  saying,  Wherefore,  my  dearly  beloved,  flee  from 
idolatry. 

But  how  can  such  a lesson  as  this  be  made  to  bear  upon 
the  professing  Christians  of  the  present  day  ? Just  by  mak- 
ing idolatry  what,  spiritually  and  substantially  speaking,  it 
really  is,  giving  the  desires  of  the  heart  to  any  one  object 
which  can  seduce  it  from  the  love  of  God.  If  any  one 
thing  be  more  loved  than  He,  that  one  thing  is  an  idol. 
The  heart  which  followeth  after  its  uncleanness  is  engaged 
in  the  worship  of  an  idol.  The  man  whose  heart  is  in  his 
wealth,  and  not  in  the  living  God,  is  virtually  as  much  an 
idolater  as  if  he  made  an  image  of  his  gold,  and  fell  down 
on  his  knees  to  an  idol.  The  man  of  the  present  day,  who, 
the  slave  of  ungovernable  desire,  indulges  in  the  abomina- 
tion of  licentiousness,  ranks,  in  the  spiritual  estimation  of 
Heaven,  with  the  bacchanalian  of  old,  who  personified  pleas- 
ure, and  made  an  image  with  his  hands  to  represent  the 
image  of  his  fancy,  and  shared  in  all  the  mysteries  which 
were  thrown  around  the  service  of  the  idol.  Even  the 
good-humored  and  convivial  man,  whose  ruling  enjoyment 
is  his  table,  and  whom  the  world  can  charge  with  no  other 
species  of  profligacy — had  he  been  one  of  Paul's  converts, 
Paul  would  have  wept  over  him,  and  charged  him  with 
making  a god  of  his  enjoyment,  and  the  mind  of  the  holy 
apostle  would  have  felt  his  apostasy  even  to  the  bitterness 
of  tears,  and  have  told  it  even  weeping  that  he  had  become 
an  enemy  of  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  had  relapsed  from  the 


278 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


worship  of  the  one  God  to  the  worship  of  an  idol.  Ye  pur- 
er and  gentler  of  our  kind,  who  love  to  surround  yourselves 
with  all  the  elegancies  which  wealth  can  purchase,  I will 
not  say,  when  I enter  your  apartments  and  survey  the  taste- 
fulness and  the  splendor  which  adorn  them,  that  you  have 
done  that  which  is  unlawful,  but  I think  that,  had  Paul  look- 
ed at  the  costly  exhibition,  he  would  have  said,  with  all  the 
delicacy  and  discernment  which  belonged  to  him,  that 
though  all  things  be  lawful,  yet  all  things  are  not  expedient ; 
and  if  the  desire  of  the  eye  or  the  pride  of  life,  which  are 
opposite  to  the  love  of  the  Father,  be  the  ruling  principle 
within  you,  then  in  every  act  of  extravagance  at  the  shrine 
of  fashion  do  I recognize  an  offering  of  idolatry — an  act  of 
graceful  adoration  before  the  painted  magnificence  and  the 
high- wrought  drapery  of  an  idol.  But  the  work  of  illustra- 
tion is  endless.  Every  one  creature  that  is  more  loved  than 
the  Creator  is  an  idol.  If  any  one  thing  which  He  has 
formed  occupy  the  place  in  our  hearts  which  belongs  to 
Him  who  formed  all  things,  that  one  thing  is  an  idol.  Oh  ! 
how  widely  does  such  a principle  as  this  spread  around  the 
charge  of  rebellion  among  all  the  classes  and  characters  of 
society.  How  broadly  it  stamps  upon  the  face  of  the  world 
the  legible  expression  of  a world  lying  in  wickedness. 
When  we  see  every  man  giving,  himself  up  to  his  own  pe- 
culiar idolatry,  how  it  realizes  the  description  of  the  proph- 
et, that  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way ; and 
surely,  when,  under  all  the  vanities  of  selfish  indulgence — 
from  all  the  grossness  of  profligacy  to  all  the  elegance  of 
refinement,  we  can  detect  the  one,  and  the  universal  ten- 
dency of  forgetfulness  of  God,  we  cannot  fail  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  world  of  sense  which  is  around  us  is  one 
mighty  theater  of  idolatry ; that  on  every  side  of  us  idols 
meet  us  and  ply  us  with  their  temptations ; that  they  have 
stolen  our  affections  from  God  as  entirely  as  the  idols  of 
Corinth  seduced  the  worshipers  of  that  abandoned  city  from 
the  true  God  of  heaven  and  of  earth ; and  that,  therefore, 
the  call  of  the  apostle  is  unto  us  as  well  as  unto  them,  when 
he  tells  us  of  God  claiming  the  honor  that  is  due  unto  His 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


2 79 


name,  and  recalling  His  wandering  creatures  to  their  alle- 
giance, and  bidding  them  give  up  their  idols,  saying, “Come 
out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch  not 
the  unclean  thing,  and  I will  receive  you,  saith  the  Lord.” 

Let  me  take  each  of  these  clauses  in  the  order  in  which 
they  stand,  and  endeavor  practically  to  apply  them  to  the 
men  of  the  present  day. 

“ Come  out  from  among  them.” — A plain  enough  direc- 
tion, if  you  conceive  a man  standing  in  one  of  the  temples 
of  idolatry.  It  is  just  telling  him  to  turn  his  back  upon  the 
idols,  and  to  walk  away  from  them ; but  if  you  take  in  the 
next  clause  of  the  apostle’s  advice,  “ be  ye  separate,”  you 
connect  with  the  act  of  leaving  these  idols  the  purpose  of 
never  returning  to  them.  My  object  in  going  away  is  to 
keep  away.  With  the  individual  act  of  the  time  that  is 
present  there  is  also  the  general  determination,  which,  if 
persisted  in,  carries  an  authority  over  my  conduct  in  all 
time  coming.  Obedience  to  the  direction,  “Come  out  from 
among  them,”  may  be  performed  by  a man  who,  though  he 
forbears  one  act  of  idolatry,  intends  no  renunciation  of  the 
habits  of  idolatry.  Obedience  to  the  direction  of — Come 
out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  involves  in  it 
not  merely  an  act  of  refusal  to  join  in  the  service  of  idols, 
but  it  makes  the  one  act  the  commencement  of  a purposed 
course.  It  is  by  the  control  of  the  mind  over  the  body  that 
the  one  performance  of  moving  away  from  an  idolatrous 
temple  is  accomplished ; but  the  mind  can  look  forward  to 
futurity,  and  by  a present  act  of  volition  it  can  exert  a con- 
trol over  the  movements  of  futurity.  A purpose  may  be 
suggested  in  a moment;  it  may  be  deliberated  upon  and 
formed  in  less  than  an  hour.  It  may  be  so  matured  by  the 
power  of  reflection  sitting  in  authority  over  the  great  ques- 
tions of  duty  and  interest,  as  to  obtain  a vested  and  decisive 
establishment  over  the  mind  in  a single  day.  In  another 
day  it  may  compel  the  outer  man  to  an  act  of  obedience, 
and  this  may  be  followed  by  another,  and  the  purpose  may 
gather  new  strength  from  every  new  and  successful  exer- 
tion of  sovereignty,  and  it  may  be  getting  constant  additions 


280 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


to  its  practical  ascendency  over  the  whole  man,  and  thus 
from  the  suggestion  of  a single  moment  there  may  arise, 
as  from  a starting-point,  an  emanating  influence  which  gives 
a new  direction  to  his  doings,  and  imparts  a new  color  to 
the  whole  train  of  his  history. 

This  gives  an  importance  to  the  business  of  the  pulpit 
which,  to  him  who  fills  it,  is  enough  to  humble  and  to  over- 
whelm him.  The  thousand  individuals  he  stands  among, 
if  they  remain  what  nature  made  them,  have  turned  every 
one  of  them  to  his  own  way,  and  each  is  in  full  pursuit  of 
his  own  fancied  idolatry.  Oh  ! how  shall  he  shape  the  sug- 
gestion that  is  to  bear  with  effect  on  all  or  on  any  of  them ; 
that  is,  to  arrest  the  currency  of  nature,  and  to  turn  these 
wanderers  unto  God.  Oh  ! there  is  an  obstinacy  of  corrup- 
tion amongst  us  which  mocks  the  impotency  of  human  argu- 
ments ; a spell  in  the  enchantments  of  sense  and  of  time 
which  no  charm  of  eloquence  can  dissolve ; a tyranny  in 
the  idols  of  the  world  against  which  all  the  demonstrations 
of  wisdom  and  all  the  entreaties  of  human  tenderness  have 
no  more  effect  than  the  lispings  of  infancy.  A minister  has 
no  ground  to  hope  for  fruit  from  his  exertions  until  in  him- 
self he  has  no  hope ; until  he  has  learned  to  put  no  faith  in 
the  point  and  energy  of  sentences  ; until  he  feel  that  a man 
may  be  mighty  to  compel  the  attention,  and  mighty  to  re- 
gale the  imagination,  and  mighty  to  silence  the  gainsayers, 
and  yet  not  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds. 
Oh  ! there  is  a power  of  resistance  in  the  alienated  children 
of  this  world  which  is  beyond  every  power  that  accom- 
plished or  educated  nature  can  bring  to  bear  upon  it ; and 
it  is  not  till  he  throw  himself  in  humble  dependence  on  his 
great  Master,  who  alone  can  subdue  all  things  unto  Him- 
self, that  he  need  expect  to  be  the  honored  instrument  of 
breaking  down  the  infatuation  which  chains  every  brother 
of  the  species  in  the  most  helpless  and  degrading  idolatry. 

But  to  give  these  two  clauses  of  “Come  out  from  among 
them,”  and  “ be  ye  separate,”  their  general  application,  1 
would  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  renunciation  you 
are  called  upon  to  perform  is  not  of  this  one  or  of  that  other 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


281 


idol,  bat  of  all  idols.  It  is  to  come  out  from  among  them . 
There  is  not  one  of  them  in  the  service  of  which  you  do  not 
trespass  on  some  of  the  commandments ; and  there  is  not 
one  of  them  the  love  of  which  does  not  depose  God  from 
that  supremacy  over  your  affections  which  belongs  to  Him. 
There  is  no  man  living  who  realizes  every  species  of  wick- 
edness in  his  conduct,  or  who  enthrones  every  idol  seducing 
him  to  wickedness  in  his  heart.  You  may  not  serve  many 
gods  ; but  if  you  serve  one  god,  and  he  be  not  the  true  God 
of  heaven  and  of  earth,  to  Him  you  are  a rebel,  and  the  full 
guilt  of  rebellion  lies  upon  you.  Many  a generous-hearted 
youth  would  not  make  a sacrifice  of  integrity  to  the  idol 
wealth  ; ay,  but  he  may  make  an  idol  of  pleasure.  Many 
an  elegant  scholar  would  not  debase  himself  by  an  act  of 
intoxication  ; ay,  but  he  may  make  an  idol  of  fame.  Many 
a lover  of  quietness  would  not  envy  the  success  of  another’s 
ambition  ; ay,  but  he  may  make  an  idol  of  ease.  Each  may 
think  his  own  taste  the  most  respectable,  and  give  the 
preference  to  his  own  idol,  but  I come  in  upon  them  with  a 
claim  that  sets  aside  all,  and  is  paramount  to  all.  I bring 
the  demands  of  another  Master  to  the  door  of  every  one  of 
them.  I tell  them  that  it  is  quite  in  vain  to  be  running  each 
in  complacency  on  his  own  way,  and  thinking  that  he  is  so 
much  safer  and  so  much  better  than  his  neighbors  around 
him.  It  is  precisely  because  it  is  his  own  way  that  he  is 
wrong.  It  is  a way  to  which  he  turns  not  by  the  authority 
of  God,  but  by  the  desire  of  his  own  heart.  It  may  be 
called  a purer,  or  a more  refined,  or  a more  honorable  way, 
but  still,  if  God  have  no  concern  in  it,  what  put  him  in  that 
way  but  some  affection  of  his  own  ? and  that  affection  be- 
ing not  towards  God,  is  towards  an  idol.  It  is  just  because 
we  have  turned  every  man  to  his  own  way,  that  God  looks 
upon  us  as  wandering  from  Him,  and  that  before  He  could 
recall  us  back  again  He  had  to  clear  the  access  between 
sinners  and  Himself,  by  laying  upon  Christ  the  iniquities  of 
us  all.  Oh,  no  ! my  brethren,  you  may  have  several  idols, 
and  give  up  the  service  of  one  of  them,  but  that  is  not 
enough ; or  you  may  leave  one  and  take  to  another,  but 


282 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


that  will  not  do  either.  The  God  who  made  you  and  keeps 
you  can  put  His  hand  upon  every  one  of  you,  and  say  that 
you  are  mine,  and  whatever  you  do  must  be  done  by  my 
will  and  to  my  service.  I lay  upon  you  the  obligation  of 
doing  all  things  to  Him,  and  ere  you  can  be  ready  to  fulfill 
this  obligation,  you  must  come  out  from  all  idols,  and  be 
separate  from  all. 

And,  again,  what  is  that  posture  of  the  mind  which  is  im- 
plied in  its  being  separate  from  idols  ? It  is  by  nature  the 
subject  of  many  desires,  and  there  is  surely  no  difficulty  in 
conceiving  what  it  is  to  follow  out  these  desires.  There  is 
a bent  of  the  mind  which  all  of  us  have  the  familiar  expe- 
rience of,  and  it  is  every  day  exemplified  by  those  thousands 
and  thousands  more  who  crowd  the  broad  way  which 
leadeth  to  destruction.  It  is  a matter  of  constant  observa- 
tion how  a desire  springs  in  the  heart ; how,  to  obtain  its 
accomplishment,  a purpose  is  conceived  ; how,  to  execute 
the  purpose,  a deed  is  performed  or  a line  of  conduct  is 
prosecuted  ; and  how,  throughout  every  step  of  this  often- 
repeated  process,  God  is  not  thought  of,  and  His  will  is  ad- 
mitted to  no  share  in  the  deliberations  of  the  inner  man,  and 
to  no  influence  upon  the  visible  doings  of  the  outer  man. 
Such  a man  is  wholly  given  over  to  the  service  of  idols ; 
he  walketh  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  heart  and  in  the 
sight  of  his  own  eyes  ; he  cares  not  for  the  bidding  of  God, 
and  he  seeks  not  to  know  what  that  bidding  is  ; he  just  acts 
as  if  there  were  no  God,  or  as  if  God  had  no  will  about  any 
of  his  doings,  or  as  if  the  expression  of  that  will  had  never 
been  revealed  to  him.  Surely,  it  may  well  be  said  of  such 
a man  that  he  has  broken  loose  from  God  ; that  he  is  astray 
and  at  a distance  from  Him  ; that  he  has  fled  from  his  law- 
ful Master,  and  attached  himself  to  the  service  of  idols  ; and 
be  it  vanity,  or  covetousness,  or  the  love  of  pleasure,  or  am- 
bition, or,  if  free  from  the  domineering  violence  of  any  one 
passion,  which  many  an  every-day  character  is,  be  it  merely 
a calm  general  attachment  to  the  creature  and  to  the  world ; 
be  it  one,  or  several,  or  all  of  these  which  form  the  principles 
of  his  constitution — still  they  are  only  the  different  names 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


283 


of  so  many  idols  ; and  though  the  service  of  each  of  them 
imparts  its  own  peculiar  complexion  to  its  own  worshipers, 
they  have  all  gone  out  of  the  way;  there  is  none  that  seek- 
eth  after  God ; they  are  idolaters,  and  have  every  one  of 
them  turned  aside  to  idolatry. 

Now  let  conscience  waken  within  such  a man.  Let  it 
put  the  authority  of  God  before  him  as  a rightful  authority; 
let  it  tell  him,  “ It  is  not  your  desire,  but  the  will  of  God  that 
you  should  follow  ;”  let  it  reveal  to  him  the  law,  with  all  its 
high  claims  and  all  its  unalterable  sanctions ; and  conceive 
the  effect  of  all  this  to  be,  that  when  the  wonted  desire 
springs  up  in  his  heart,  and  to  which  in  time  past  he  gave 
an  unresisting  obedience,  there  should  now  spring  up  along 
with  it  a something  which  keeps  it  in  check,  and  which  will 
not  rest  till  it  subordinates  the  desire  to  the  requirement  of 
God : here  is  a man  separating  from  an  idol — going  over 
from  the  wrong  to  the  right  service,  and,  if  you  conceive 
that  the  new  principle  works  upon  him  in  all  its  universality, 
aims  to  subordinate  not  one  desire  of  the  heart,  but  all  the 
desires  of  it ; meets  every  wish  and  every  affection  with 
the  question,  But  what  is  the  will  of  God  in  this  matter? 
urges  him  with  the  consideration  that,  whatever  that  will 
be,  it  ought  to  be  followed ; brings  the  impressive  sense 
of  duty  and  interest  to  bear  upon  every  case  on  hand,  and 
thus  sets  him  to  struggle  it  not  merely  with  one  idol,  but 
with  all  idols  : here  is  a man  separating  from  them  ; here  is 
a man  working  at  the  direction  of  the  text,  if  he  has  not  yet 
fulfilled  it,  of  “ be  ye  separate ;”  here  is  a man  under  the 
general  conviction  that  his  face  has  been  hitherto  turned 
the  wrong  way,  and  that  now  he  must  turn  him  to  God ; 
here  is  a man  feeling  what  he  ought  to  be,  and  conscious 
that  such  he  has  not  hitherto  been ; here  is  a man  looking 
towards  God,  and  aspiring  after  the  general  object  of  being 
what  God  would  have  him  to  be ; here  is  a man  before  the 
eye  of  whose  mind  there  stands  presented  the  will  of  God 
as  opposed  not  to  this  one  and  to  that  other  transgression, 
but  as  opposed  to  the  whole  array  of  his  former  desires,  and 
pursuits,  and  affections ; here  is  a man  now  actuated  by  a 


284 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


desire  after  the  single,  but  most  comprehensive  o yect  of 
conformity  to  this  will ; here  is  a man  filled  with  ? onging 
after  the  one  service  of  God,  and  a clean  and  tota  separa- 
tion from  every  other.  Whether  he  has  yet  obts  led  that 
which  he  longs  after,  and  how  he  is  to  accomplish  he  work 
of  an  entire  separation,  are  other  questions ; 1 it,  at  all 
events,  here  is  a man  in  the  incipient  attitude  of  obedience 
to  the  direction  of  my  text — an  attitude  into  which  he  may 
put  himself  the  moment  that  it  is  listened  to  and  understood 
by  him ; and  if  he  has  not  yet  accomplished  a separation 
from  idols,  he  is  at  least  in  a state  of  honest  readiness  for 
doing  all  that  may  be  right  or  necessary  to  accomplish  it. 

Now,  my  brethren,  this  is  the  very  position  I want  to  put 
you  into.  A man  may  refrain  his  hand  from  some  evil  per- 
formance, and  not  be  in  this  posture ; a man  may  refrain 
his  tongue  from  some  mischievous  calumny,  and  not  be  in 
this  posture ; a man  may  refrain  his  feet  from  some  gay 
and  seductive  company,  and  not  be  in  this  posture.  The 
mere  individual  act  of  turning  from  these  things  may  be 
performed  by  one  who  has  not  set  himself  to  the  one  gen- 
eral act  of  turning  unto  God.  Now  we  are  repeatedly  told 
in  the  Bible  to  make  this  turn,  and  there  must  be  some  deed 
of  obedience  by  which  it  is  performed.  It  is  the  very  deed 
of  obedience  which  I am  now  pressing  upon  you.  It  is  not 
made  up  of  many  particular  a r of  obedience,  but  it  is  one 
act,  which,  if  duly  rendered,  would  carry  every  particular 
act  of  obedience  along  with  it.  No  multiplication  what- 
ever of  particular  acts  of  obedience  will  make  out  the  one 
general  act  of  turning  unto  God.  I,  who  want  to  live  in 
the  free  indulgence  of  my  appetites,  may  put  myself  under 
the  regimen  of  a strict  temperance,  and  not  make  it  out ; I, 
who  want  to  take  my  own  pleasure  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
may  spend  the  whole  of  it  in  religious  observances,  and  not 
make  it  out ; I,  who  want  to  catch  at  unfair  advantages  in 
business,  may  become  most  fearfully  and  most  anxiously 
scrupulous,  and  not  make  it  out.  Oh,  no ! my  brethren, 
turning  unto  God  is  not  a matter  eked  out  and  completed 
by  tacking  one  piece  of  obedience  to  another.  It  is  one 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


285 


movement  of  the  mind,  which,  if  truly  taken,  subordinates 
the  whole  man,  and  separates  him  from  all  idols,  and,  put- 
ting him  into  the  posture  of  a returning  allegiance  to  God, 
makes  him  turn  his  back  upon  every  one  of  them.  You 
will  not  gain  this  posture  by  any  number  whatever  of  ex- 
ternal and  positive  acts  of  obedience.  It  is  an  attitude  of 
the  mind ; and  it  is  not  till  the  mind  be  addressed  by  the 
considerations  fitted  to  influence  it  that  it  will  be  put  into 
this  attitude.  It  is  not  till  conscience  plies  me  with  the 
rightful  authority  of  God,  and  sets  before  me  the  enormity 
of  being  a rebel  to  Him,  whose  I am,  and  by  whom  it  is 
that  I have  any  place  at  all  in  the  creation  He  has  formed, 
and  tells  me  of  the  worthlessness  of  idols,  and  pursues  me 
with  the  voice  of  Turn  from  them  unto  God,  and  give  to 
Him  that  allegiance  which  you  have  so  long  and  so  sinfully 
withheld  from  Him — it  is  not  till  then  that  I am  put  into 
the  commanding  position  of  renouncing,  in  wish  and  in  pur- 
pose, the  creature  for  the  Creator.  A thousand  acts  of  con- 
formity to  God’s  law  will  not  set  me  on  this  position ; but 
place  me  there,  and  you  give  me  such  an  aspiring  after  an 
entire  and  unreserved  obedience  to  the  whole  law  as  will 
carry  in  its  train  a thousand  acts  of  conformity,  and  ten 
thousand  more.  I wait  to  know  the  will  of  God,  and  what- 
ever be  its  requirements,  I have  the  honest  purpose  of  ren- 
dering obedience  to  each  and  to  all  of  them.  It  is  not  by 
doing  this  one  piece  of  work,  or  that  other  piece  of  work, 
or  any  given  number  of  performances,  that  I am  to  make 
out  the  character  or  to  earn  the  reward  of  God’s  servant, 
but,  in  the  language  of  the  psalmist,  I say  to  Him  even  now, 
O God,  I am  Thy  servant.  I give  up  every  other  master 
— put  me  to  any  piece  of  work  Thou  art  pleased  to  assign 
me — to  this  extent  do  I profess,  and  to  this  extent  it  is  my 
earnest  wish  that  I should  practice — lay  all  Thy  commands 
upon  me,  and  give  me  wisdom  to  understand  and  strength 
to  perform  them  all. 

But  understand  well,  my  brethren,  that  though  there  may 
t>e  many  acts  of  conformity  to  God’s  law  which  are  of  no 
account  whatever,  because  not  accompanied  with  a reign- 


286 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


ing  principle  of  allegiance  to  God’s  authority,  yet  wherever 
this  allegiance  exists  it  will  tell,  and  will  tell  immediately 
on  the  outward  obedience.  If  I see  that  you  are  not  fram- 
ing your  doings,  I say  most  assuredly  that  allegiance  to 
God  is  not  formed,  and  is  not  forming,  and  has  not  even 
reached  the  infancy  of  its  first  moment  in  your  hearts. 
Oh  ! there  is  much  to  be  gathered  from  that  complaint  of 
the  prophet,  that  they  will  not  frame  their  doings  to  turn 
unto  the  Lord.*  He  had  called  upon  them  to  turn  and  to 
turn,  but  when  he  saw  that  there  was  no  change  of  doing 
among  them,  he  felt  that  the  work  of  turning  was  not  even 
begun  to.  And  there  is  just  as  much  to  be  gathered  from 
the  text.  It  presses  upon  you  the  general  habit,  the  chang- 
ed attitude  of  the  soul,  in  virtue  of  which  it  is  separate  from 
idols  and  turned  to  the  true  God  ; but  at  the  same  time  that 
it  presses  this,  and  even  before  it  presses  the  general  habit 
upon  you,  it  lays  upon  you  a specific  act ; it  bids  you  come 
out  from  among  them  ; it  does  not  wait  for  the  slow  forma- 
tion of  any  unseen  principle  in  the  inner  man,  ere  it  urges 
you  to  a visible  and  external  act  of  obedience  on  the  outer 
man ; it  does  not  encourage  any  delay  or  any  parrying  in 
this  matter.  Oh  ! there  is  a wonderful  freeness  and  energy 
in  the  practical  addresses  of  the  Bible  ! It  does  not  leave 
you  at  a loss  for  want  of  knowing  some  clear,  distinct,  and 
palpable  thing  that  you  may  turn  your  hand  to.  The  idol- 
ater who  was  still  lingering  in  a temple  of  heathenism,  had 
he  been  met  in  person  by  the  apostle,  would  have  gotten 
from  him  an  advice  of  far  more  comprehensive  import  than 
that  he  should  not  join  in  the  pagan  services  of  that  day ; 
he  would  have  been  told  to  separate  himself  from  all  idols 
for  all  the  days  of  his  life  ; but  the  mighty  mind  of  the  apos- 
tle, aiming  at  the  accomplishment  of  so  mighty  a change 
in  the  heart  and  habits  of  an  idolater,  would  still  have  found 
time  and  earnestness  for  laying  upon  him  a specific  act,  and 
he  would  have  laid  the  full  stress  of  a practical  importance 
on  the  one  individual  and  immediate  performance  of  leav- 
ing the  temple  in  which  he  was  now  standing,  and,  without 
* Hosea  v.  4. 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


287 


any  squeamish,  and  slavish,  and  theorizing  scrupulosity 
about  the  order  of  his  directions,  would  he  have  said  to  him, 
in  the  words  of  the  text,  Go  out  from  among  them,  and  be 
ye  separate. 

Now,  my  brethren,  I apply  this  to  you  and  to  your  idols, 
and  to  the  acts  of  sin  which  you  perform  in  their  service. 
I call  upon  you  to  be  separated  from  them  all ; but  I call 
upon  you,  also,  to  refrain  from  the  very  first  act  of  sin  that 
you  may  have  opportunity  of  performing  in  the  service  of 
any  one  of  them.  Conceive  it  possible  that  this  were  the 
moment  of  such  an  act.  I would  not  only  tell  you  to  sep- 
arate yourself  altogether  from  this  kind  of  wickedness,  but 
I would  tell  you  to  force  yourself  away,  and  that  actually, 
from  the  particular  act  of  wickedness  you  were  now  en- 
gaged in.  Were  I by  the  side  of  a young  friend  who  was 
surrounded  by  dissipated  companions,  and  in  the  full  career 
of  intoxication  amongst  them,  I would  tell  him  to  separate 
himself  from  the  idol  of  pleasure ; but  the  office  of  his  moni- 
tor would  be  woefully  unfinished  did  I not  whisper  in  his 
ear,  and  that  with  all  the  energy  of  alarm,  that  at  this  mo- 
ment he  should  go  out  from  among  them.  Were  he  the 
member  of  some  unrighteous  combination,  a partner  in 
some  extended  system  of  illicit  merchandise,  the  companion 
of  a brotherhood  who  practiced  their  covenanted  acts  of 
dishonesty  against  the  interests  of  the  public,  I would  not 
let  him  off  with  an  exhortation  of  such  feeble  generality  as, 
Separate  thyself  from  the  idol  of  covetousness,  but  would 
press  it  upon  him  that  without  a moment’s  parrying  or  de- 
lay he  should  withdraw  himself  from  that  fellowship  of 
iniquity,  and  go  out  from  amongst  them.  Were  he  a wor- 
shiper at  the  shrine  of  fashion,  and  in  that  wretched  com- 
petition of  extravagance  which  has  banished  from  society 
all  the  simplicity  of  kindness;  were  he  to  force  out  a splen- 
dor in  the  eye  of  his  neighbor  which  pressed  upon  the  means 
or  the  conveniences  of  his  family,  I would  not  stop  short  at 
telling  him  to  separate  himself  from  the  idol  of  vanity,  but 
I would  urge  him,  in  noble  defiance  to  his  former  associates 
in  expense,  and  to  all  their  paltry  insinuations,  that  at  this 


288 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


moment  he  should  bid  adieu  to  their  heartless  parade,  and 
come  out  from  amongst  them.  I would  not  satisfy  myself 
with  the  general  direction ; I would  follow  it  up  with  the 
point  of  a specific  requirement ; I would  bring  it  to  the 
touchstone  of  an  instantaneous  act  of  obedience  ; I would 
not  merely  say,  Be  ye  separate,  but  I would  also  say, 
Come  out.  An  entire  separation  from  all  idols  is  the 
mighty  object  of  a Christian’s  ambition ; but  it  is  an  object 
to  which  he  must  move,  and  if  I see  no  one  act  of  breaking 
off  from  his  idolatry,  I have  a right  to  say  of  him  that  he 
has  not  moved  a single  footstep  in  the  way  of  obedience. 
One  act  of  withdrawment  may  be  performed  by  him  who 
falls  short  of  the  habit  of  separation,  but  the  habit  of  separa- 
tion will  never  be  reached  by  him  who  performs  no  act  of 
withdrawment.  Oh,  no  ! my  brethren ; you  may  amuse 
yourselves  all  your  days  with  the  distant  contemplation  of 
the  full  stature  and  graceful  accomplishments  of  the  per- 
fect man  in  Christ  Jesus,  but  it  is  only  by  growing  up  unto 
Him  that  you  will  ever  reach  it ; by  moving  from  one  de- 
gree of  grace  unto  another ; by  an  actual  commencement 
of  the  course,  and  a steady  perseverance  in  it.  If  I have 
not  got  you  to  cease  from  one  act  of  homage  to  an  idol,  I 
have  done  nothing.  If  I have  not  prevailed  upon  you  to 
resolve  against  the  very  next  occasion  of  sin,  I have  given 
all  my  earnestness  to  the  winds.  If  I have  only  wrought 
in  you  the  conviction  that  it  is  your  duty  to  separate  from 
yiols,  but  have  not  wrought  in  you  the  purpose  to  come 
out  from  among  them,  ay,  and  that  immediately,  I feel 
amongst  you  all  the  humiliation  of  a defeat — I am  baffled 
in  my  attack  upon  the  power  of  darkness  within  you.  The 
lifting  up  of  my  voice  has  not  awakened  you  from  the  deep 
spirit  of  slumber,  nor  has  the  word  of  exhortation  which  I 
have  sounded  in  your  ears  been  acknowledged  by  that 
Spirit  who  can  alone  make  the  word  effectual  by  giving  it 
the  energy  of  a hammer  breaking  the  rock  in  pieces.  I 
look  around  me,  and  see  every  symptom  of  attention  en- 
graven upon  the  countenance  and  expressed  by  the  attitude 
of  a listening  people ; but  if  all  this  is  not  accompanied  by 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


289 


the  purpose  of  abandoning  the  next  act  of  homage  you  are 
tempted  to  render  to  an  idol,  under  the  imposing  cover  of 
all  that  stillness  and  seriousness  which  now  sit  so  visibly 
among  you,  there  is  an  enmity  of  heart  arrayed  against  me 
in  all  the  obstinacy  of  resistance;  I have  effected  no  lodg- 
ment in  the  inner  man  ; and  in  my  attempt  to  shake  you 
out  of  the  deceitfulness  of  sin,  the  enemy  who  reigns  in  and 
who  occupies  your  bosoms  has  withstood,  and  he  has  over 
come  me. 

In  the  great  work  of  separating  from  an  idol,  and  turn- 
ing unto  the  Lord,  there  is  an  immediate  movement  that  I 
would  impress  upon  your  footsteps.  They  must  haste  and 
make  no  delay  to  keep  the  commandments.  It  is  right  that 
the  object  of  an  entire  renunciation  should  be  fully  in  your 
eye,  but  this  object  will  never  be  attained  unless  the  work 
of  renunciation  is  begun  to,  and  I lay  it  upon  you  to  begin 
it  immediately.  It  is  right  for  you  to  understand,  that  you 
do  nothing  to  the  purpose  unless  it  be  done  in  the  spirit  of 
a general  desire  to  do  everything  unto  the  Lord  ; but  what 
signifies  the  purity  of  the  motive  that  you  should  wish  to  do 
everything,  if  in  deed  and  in  performance  you  have  not 
done  anything,  and  are  not  prepared  to  do  the  very  next 
thing  which  time  and  opportunity  bring  round  to  you?  In 
the  act  of  turning  to  the  Lord,  you  must  frame  your  doings, 
and  every  moment  of  delay  you  incur  in  the  doing  of  this 
o»ne  and  that  other  prescribed  thing,  you  are  keeping  sep- 
arate from  Him  and  clinging  in  service  and  in  affection  to  % 
one  or  more  of  your  idols.  I call  upon  you  to  break  loose 
from  every  one  of  them  ; and  if  you  do  so,  you  will  at  this 
very  instant  emerge  into  the  field  of  active  obedience. 
You  will  go  home,  and  put  their  services  and  their  society 
away  from  you ; you  will  forbear  the  wonted  homage  that 
you  have  been  daily  and  hourly  rendering  them.  If  hith- 
erto you  have  worshiped  the  idol  of  sensual  pleasure,  your 
very  next  feast  will  be  a feast  of  temperance.  If  hitherto 
you  have  made  an  offering  of  truth  to  the  idol  of  gain,  your 
very  next  bargain  will  be  a bargain  of  integrity.  If  hitherto 
you  have  made  the  offering  of  a sinful  compliance  to  the 
VOL.  vi. — N 


290 


SPIRITUAL  IDOLATRY. 


idol  of  popularity  among  your  profligate  companions,  your 
very  next  meeting  with  them  will  be  signalized  by  an  act 
of  virtuous  independence.  I admit  of  no  parrying  in  this 
matter.  I will  not  be  satisfied  with  the  faint  generality  of 
a wish  that  you  should  be  separate,  but  I insist  on  the  wish 
being  turned  into  business  immediately,  and  evincing  its 
strength  and  its  reality  by  your  coming  out  now  from 
among  them.  I want  to  break  up  this  dream  of  indolence; 
I want  to  blow  in  pieces  every  delusion  which  prolongs  it. 
Whatever  the  employment  of  mind  be  which  keeps  you  from 
embarking  in  the  career  of  immediate  exertion,  I pronounce 
it  to  be  wrong.  Should  it  even  be  the  hard  knot  of  some 
doctrinal  difficulty  which  shortens  you  and  binds  you  up 
from  putting  forth  an  instant  activity  in  this  matter,  I would 
cut  it  through,  and  tear  it  asunder  as  a spell  of  infatuation. 
Ah ! my  brethren,  it  is  not  enough  that  you  be  told  how 
there  must  be  an  entire  separation  from  idols  ere  you  reach 
that  place  where  nothing  unclean  and  unholy  ever  enters. 
The  hour  of  your  departure  from  this  world  looks  a distant 
futurity,  and  you  put  it  far  away  from  you ; but  I tell  you 
that  on  this  hour  you  must  begin  the  work  of  separation ; 
and  knowing  that  delay  is  ruin,  and  how  artful  are  the 
pleadings  of  the  soul  for  a little  more  sleep  and  a little  more 
slumber,  I ply  your  consciences  with  the  energy  of  an  im- 
mediate call,  and  lift  in  your  present  hearing  the  solemn 
announcement  that  now,  even  now,  you  must  come  out 
'from  amongst  them. 


SERMON  XIX. 


[Preached  in  the  Tron  Church  at  the  first  Sacrament  dispensed  by  D* 
Chalmers  in  Glasgow,  5th  November,  1815.] 

II  CORINTHIANS  VI.  17,  18. 

“ Wherefore,  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not 
the  unclean  thing;  and  I will  receive  you,  and  will  be  a Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty.” 

The  sinner  who  turns  with  his  whole  heart  and  whole 
soul  to  God  comes  to  be  separate  from  all  idols.  This  is 
the  object  of  his  unceasing  attempts  and  aspirations — this 
is  the  purpose  by  which  he  is  actuated.  The  commence- 
ment of  this  purpose  is  marked  by  his  coming  from  the  ser- 
vice of  idolatry,  and  at  this  time  he  comes  out  from  among 
them.  The  continuance  of  this  purpose  is  marked  by  his 
keeping  from  the  service  of  the  idolatry,  and  then  it  is  that 
he  refrains  his  hand  from  touching  the  unclean  thing.  He 
has  come  out  from  among  them,  and  he  will  not  go  back 
again  ; and  lest  he  should  be  allured,  he  refrains  from  the 
most  distant  approaches  that  may  tempt  his  return.  He 
will  not  even  venture  upon  the  borders  of  temptation — he 
will  not  even  so  much  as  touch  the  unclean  thing.  He 
dreads  the  power  of  seduction  that  lies  even  in  the  very 
outworks  of  idolatry,  and  he  keeps  studiously  aloof  from 
them.  If  temptation  meet  him,  whether  he  will  or  not,  he 
must  grapple  with  it ; but  if  he  has  a choice  in  the  matter, 
he  would  rather  fly  from  it.  This  is  the  safe  and  the  scrip- 
tural way  of  managing  every  temptation — when  it  is  in 
your  power,  keep  without  its  reach.  If  your  seducing 
companions  have  still  a power  of  seduction  over  you,  shun, 
if  possible,  their  presence.  If  a luxurious  entertainment 
has  still  a power  of  oversetting  your  purposes  of  control 


292 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


save  yourself  by  a timely  withdrawment,  or  keep  altogether 
away  from  it.  If  an  alluring  object  present  itself  before 
you,  turn  away  your  eyes  from  viewing  vanity.  Your 
safety  lies  in  caution.  It  will  be  long,  and  very  long,  my 
refraining  friends,  ere  you  should  let  down  that  vigilance 
which  distrust  and  conscious  weakness  ought  to  inspire. 
You  have  come  out  from  among  the  idolatries  of  your 
former  days,  have  you? — well,  you  will  find  the  work  of 
keeping  out  from  them  a work  of  great  watchfulness.  You 
will  need  to  have  all  your  eyes  about  you,  for  you  are  sur- 
rounded with  images  of  deceit  which  would  light  up  your 
old  affections,  and  bear  you  back  again  into  the  old  service. 
Oh ! it  is  wise  to  be  suspicious  of  yourself  and  fearful  of 
your  own  firmness.  Go  not  willfully  to  commit  a vessel  so 
frail  to  the  rude  shock  of  contending  temptations,  and  keep 
your  presence  from  the  service  of  idolatry,  and  from  all 
that  would  seduce  you  to  the  service. 

But  to  touch  not  the  unclean  thing  is  not  a mere  act  and 
exercise  of  the  body — it  is  a precept  that  may  be  addressed 
to  the  mind,  and  to  the  management  of  its  thoughts  and  af- 
fections. Remove  your  mind  from  the  contact  of  every 
unlawful  object  that  would  steal  upon  its  desires  and  tempt 
it  to  purposes  of  sin.  Should  an  unhallowed  thought  offer 
to  intrude  itself,  and  kindle  up  any  wayward  affections, 
rebuke  it  from  the  inner  chamber  of  the  soul.  Should  the 
temptings  of  an  unfair  speculation  kindle  up  any  desires  of 
covetousness,  spurn  it  away  from  you.  Should  some  gay 
and  earthly  vision  of  futurity  offer  to  mislead  your  fancy, 
and  bind  it  in  captive  attachment  to  the  world  you  had 
abandoned,  let  the  great  and  commanding  realities  of  an 
eternal  inheritance  chase  the  hollow  deceitfulness  from  your 
bosom.  Keep  your  heart  with  all  diligence.  It  is  not  safe 
to  let  it  linger  on  the  mountains  of  vanity.  It  is  not  right 
to  commit  it  to  the  hazard  which  it  is  in  your  power  to  fly 
from,  or  wantonly  expose  it  to  the  temptations  which  you 
are  commanded  to  pray  against.  Its  tendencies  are  too 
much  away  from  God,  and  too  much  directed  to  the  creat- 
ure, to  be  lightly  tampered  with ; and  it  is  only  when  you 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


293 


renounce  the  idolatries  of  the  creature,  and  keep  yourself 
separate  from  it,  and  harbor  not  the  temptations  which 
would  draw  you  back  to  it,  that  God  will  receive  you. 

Before  I proceed  to  the  next  clause,  let  me  advert  to  one 
mischievous  effect  which  the  wordy  and  lengthened  illus- 
trations of  a preacher  may  give  rise  to.  He  takes  up  one 
or  two  verses  of  the  Bible,  and  he  breaks  them  down  into 
separate  pieces,  and  he  bestows  his  several  paragraphs 
upon  each  of  them,  and  he  leads  his  hearers  to  look  upon 
each  as  furnishing  a distinct  topic  of  remark  and  contem- 
plation, when,  in  fact,  the  whole  impression  of  the  whole 
verse  should  be  all  in  his  mind  together,  and  should  give  a 
force  and  a direction  to  every  one  of  its  clauses.  As  to 
the  two  verses  which  I have  now  submitted  to  you,  by  one 
breath  of  utterance  I can  pour  the  whole  of  it  into  the  ear 
of  a hearer — by  one  glance  of  the  eye  it  can  be  all  taken 
up  into  the  mind  of  a reader — in  a single  moment  its  entire 
meaning  may  have  taken  possession  of  the  heart,  so  that 
with  the  act  of  obedience  to  the  first  clause,  “ Come  out 
from  among  them,”  there  may  exist  at  the  same  time  an 
earnest  desire  after  the  fulfillment  of  the  second  clause,  “ Be 
ye  separate,”  and  a firm  purpose  of  carrying  the  third  clause 
into  execution,  “ Touch  not  the  unclean  thing  ;”  and  the  joy- 
ful encouragement  which  lies  in  the  fourth  clause,  “ I will 
receive  you,”  giving  movement  to  the  very  first  steps  of 
obedience,  and  cheering  you  through  all  its  successive 
stages  ; and  the  blessed  assurance  of  the  last  clause,  “ I 
will  be  a Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and 
daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty,”  telling  upon  you  at 
the  very  outset  of  your  new  career,  and  beginning  to  obtain 
the  earnest  of  its  full  and  farther  accomplishment  with  your 
very  first  attempts  to  seek  God,  if  haply  you  might  find 
Him — for  He  sees  you  afar  off,  even  as  the  father  saw  his 
prodigal  son,  and  He  hears  the  very  earliest  of  your  cries 
after  Him,  and  the  prayer  of  “ Turn  me,  and  I shall  be 
turned,”  lifted  up  from  the  very  depths  of  enslavement,  is 
not  disregarded  by  Him  ; and  it  is  strength  from  Him  put 
into  you  that  gives  you  the  power  of  coming  out  from  idols, 


294 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


and  kept  up  in  you  that  gives  you  power  of  maintaining  a 
continual  separation  from  idols,  and  dealt  out  to  you  in 
every  hour  of  need  and  of  temptation  that  gives  you  the 
power  of  resisting,  and  fleeing,  and  touching  not  what  is 
unclean ; and  thus  with  the  promises  in  your  eye  at  the 
very  outset,  you  have  also  at  the  very  outset  a beginning 
experience  of  their  accomplishment,  and  God,  receiving  you 
into  friendship,  hands  out  to  you  larger  and  larger  supplies 
of  strength  for  progressive  obedience,  and  holding  Himself 
out  as  an  offered  Father — which  He  does  at  this  moment 
to  one  and  to  all  of  you — He  follows  up  your  very  first 
answer  to  His  call,  Come  out  from  among  them,  with  larger 
and  larger  supplies  of  the  Spirit  of  adoption — you  grow  in 
the  joyful  confidence  of  being  His  sons  and  daughters  as 
you  grow  in  other  things — the  promise  of  being  a Father 
to  you  tells  upon  your  faith  at  the  very  first  utterance  of 
the  exhortation ; and  as  you  come  on  in  the  exercise  of 
filial  obedience  and  filial  affection,  the  alliance  between  you 
and  God  is  begun  with  the  very  first  act  of  turning  to  Him, 
and  the  very  first  expression  you  give  of  so  turning  by  some 
act  of  obedience — as  you  persevere  the  alliance  is  cultiva- 
ted and  made  closer — and  thus  it  is  that  the  fellowship  be- 
tween God  and  His  strayed  children  is  begun  and  carried 
forward  in  time,  and  will  at  length  receive  its  blissful  con- 
summation in  eternity. 

Now,  mark  the  effect  which  may  sometimes  arise  from  a 
separate  dissertation  being  constructed  on  every  separate 
clause  and  in  the  order  of  their  following.  There  are  suc- 
cessive portions  of  time  taken  up  in  the  act  of  attending 
upon  the  tardiness  of  a human  illustration,  and  we  are  apt 
to  think  that  in  the  practice  the  several  topics  must  be  pro- 
ceeded upon  in  the  same  order,  and  one  of  them  must  be 
mastered  ere  we  try  the  obedience  or  take  the  comfort  of 
the  rest.  We  must  first  come  out,  and  then  keep  out,  and 
then  refrain  our  hand  from  the  most  distant  approaches  of 
temptation,  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  God  will  receive  us 
and  be  a Father  to  us.  Now,  my  brethren,  this  is  not  the 
way  of  it.  You  read  the  whole  of  the  text  in  a single  in- 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


295 


stant,  and  in  the  very  next  your  mind  may  be  occupied 
with  all  its  topics  and  set  at  work  upon  them  all,  and  though 
the  promises  be  the  last  in  the  enumeration,  yet  a faith  in 
them  may  be  the  prime  mover  of  the  whole  obedience 
which  the  text  sets  you  to.  At  one  and  the  same  moment 
in  which  you  come  out  from  the  riot  of  profligate  compan- 
ions there  may  be  the  steady  purpose  of  never  going  back 
to  them,  and  the  vigilant  determination  to  shun  their  most 
distant  approaches — and  the  impelling  cause  of  the  whole 
may  be  consciousness  within  you  that  in  so  doing  you  are 
choosing  a better  part — that  you  are  coming  over  to  the 
* service  of  a God  who  is  willing  even  now  to  receive  you 
into  fr. endship,  and  to  take  upon  Him  your  fatherly  guid- 
ance and  protection,  and  to  feed  you  with  spiritual  nourish- 
ment, and  to  strengthen  you  for  all  the  exercises  of  a spir- 
itual obedience.  Have  you  felt  that  I have  set  you  to 
work  your  own  way  to  God,  and  kept  back  from  you  the 
encouragement  of  the  promise  till  you  have  done  so?  Then 
I have  done  wrong ; and  I now  bring  the  full  encourage- 
ment of  the  promise  to  bear  upon  you.  Have  any  of  you 
through  the  week  been  keeping  at  a distance  from  God,  and 
trying  by  a hard  struggle  with  the  tyranny  of  idols  to  qual- 
ify yourselves  for  a nearer  approach  to  Him  ? Then  let  the 
experience  of  your  heartless  and  fatiguing  and  unfruitful  ex- 
ertions shut  you  up  unto  the  faith.  I call  upon  you  at  this 
moment  to  strike  an  act  of  reconciliation  with  a willing  and 
a beseeching  God,  and  at  the  very  time  that  “Come  out 
from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch  not  the 
unclean  thing,”  are  all  in  the  mind,  let  the  promise  of  affec- 
tion to  all  who  will,  and  of  fatherly  affection  to  all  who  will, 
be  taken  firm  hold  of  by  an  act  of  steady  and  believing 
assurance. 

The  truth,  therefore,  that  God  is  willing  to  receive  you, 
I bring  to  bear  upon  the  very  first  movements  of  your  re- 
turn from  the  service  of  idols  to  His  service.  The  good- 
ness of  God  leadeth  to  repentance.  A sense  of  that  good- 
ness brought  home  to  the  heart  by  the  faith  of  the  gospel, 
mingles  a constraining  influence  with  the  purposes  of^a 


296 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


mind  deliberating  upon  the  repentance  of  the  gospel.  Oh* 
no ! my  brethren.  I will  not  therefore  keep  back  the  view 
of  a Willing  and  an  inviting  God  till  you  have  described 
some  period  of  terror,  and  walked  without  Him  the  cheer- 
less round  of  some  previous  reformation.  I want  to  possess 
your  heart  even  now  with  the  assurance  of  a God  bending 
in  compassion  over  you,  and  saying  to  one  and  to  all — 
“ Turn  ye,  turn  ye  ; why  will  ye  die?”  Charged  as  I am 
with  this  message  of  tenderness  to  the  whole  human  race, 
I would  not  refuse  to  meet  the  most  profligate  among  you 
in  the  full  onset  of  his  willful  and  determined  career,  and 
lay  it  across  his  path.  I am  not  at  liberty  to  keep  it  back 
from  the  most  worthless  and  abandoned  of  the  species. 
The  necessity  is  laid  upon  me,  and  woe  is  me  if  I preach 
not  this  gospel  to  sinners  of  all  degrees,  to  rebels  of  all  de- 
nominations. You  could  not,  my  brethren,  you  could  not 
carry  me  to  any  one  haunt  of  wickedness  so  deeply  sunk 
in  the  lowest  and  the  loathsomest  of  sin’s  abominations, 
where  I would  not  forget  my  office  as  the  messenger  of  a 
beseeching  God,  did  I not  lift  my  testimony  to  His  willing- 
ness to  receive  all  and  to  forgive  all.  You  could  not  point 
my  eye  to  a single  wanderer  so  far  gone  from  the  path  of 
obedience  that  the  widely-sounding  call  of  reconciliation 
cannot  reach  him.  You  could  not  tell  me  of  a heart  so 
hard  and  so  impenitent  that  I must  not  try  to  soften  it  by 
the  moving  argument  of  a God  waiting  to  be  gracious. 
Ay,  it  may  have  made  many  a stout  resistance  to  other 
arguments — it  may  have  defied  every  warning,  and  sheathed 
itself  in  impenetrable  obstinacy  against  every  threatening, 
and  smothered  every  conviction  by  plunging  the  whole  man 
into  a deeper  and  more  desperate  rebellion ; and  when  all 
the  terrors  of  the  Lord  were  brought  in  mustering  array 
against  it,  it  may  have  gathered  itself  up  into  a sterner  atti- 
tude of  defiance,  and  put  on  a darker  scowl  of  alienation — 
Oh,  can  nothing  now  be  done  to  storm  the  citadel  that  has 
all  along  held  out  so  impregnably?  Has  the  embassador 
of  God  exhausted  his  quiver  of  all  its  arguments  ? and  must 
th^poor  child  of  infatuation  be  left  without  an  effort  more 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


297 


to  rescue  him  from  the  perdition  he  so  determinedly  clings 
to?  The  text  supplies  me  with  one  other  argument.  It 
puts  into  my  mouth  the  very  substance  of  that  gospel  which 
has  so  often  proved  itself  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom 
of  God  unto  salvation.  It  unrobes  God  of  all  unrelenting 
severity,  and  directs  my  eye  to  the  Monarch  of  the  Universe 
seated  on  a throne  of  mercy,  and  pleading  for  the  return  of 
His  strayed  creatures  with  every  accent  of  tenderness. 
He  speaks  to  them  with  the  longings  of  a father  bereaved 
of  his  children — He  descends  to  the  language  of  entreaty — 
the  great  God  of  heaven  and  of  earth  knocks  at  the  door  of 
every  rebellious  heart,  and  begs  admittance.  That  heart 
which  all  the  terrors  of  God  could  not  force  to  repentance, 
He  now  plies  with  the  goodness  of  God  that  He  may  lead 
it  to  repentance.  I will  receive  you — I have  no  pleasure 
in  your  death — I wish  you  all,  and  would  welcome  you  all, 
back  again — I want  you  to  be  my  sons  and  my  daughters, 
and  I will  be  a Father  to  you.  Oh  ! my  brethren,  if  after 
the  wrath  and  the  justice  of  God  have  failed  to  move  your 
hearts  out  of  the  inflexibility  which  belongs  to  them,  He 
shall  again  ply  you  with  His  invitations,  and  your  bosoms 
shall  remain  in  shut  and  sullen  resistance  to  the  tenderness 
of  His  touching  voice — then  to  the  disobedience  of  His  law 
you  have  added  the  neglect  of  His  salvation ; and  surely  it 
may  be  said  of  those  who  have  not  only  resisted  His  au- 
thority, but  have  despised  the  riches  of  His  forbearance  and 
His  long-suffering,  that  the  last  arrow  has  been  shot  at  them, 
and  it  has  proved  ineffectual — and  that  gospel  which,  had 
they  received  it,  would  have  been  to  their  soul  the  savor  of 
life  unto  life,  has  turned  out  the  savor  of  death  unto  death. 

Mark,  then,  my  brethren,  how  the  faith  of  the  gospel  and 
the  repentance  of  the  gospel  are  linked  together,  and  how 
the  one  furnishes  the  other  with  its  most  moving  and  effect- 
ual argument.  It  is  true,  I add  to  my  guilt  by  persevering 
in  my  disobedience ; but  without  faith  I feel  all  the  help- 
lessness of  despair  under  the  burden  of  a. guilt  that  is  al- 
ready upon  me.  It  is  true  that  every  one  sin  heightens  the 
displeasure  of  an  offended  God  ; but  I am  even  now  the  ob 

N# 


298 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


ject  of  displeasure  which,  if  wreaked  upon  me  in  all  the 
severity  of  justice,  would  sink  me  into  a suffering  more 
deep  and  painful  than  I can  stretch  my  conceptions  to.  It 
is  true  that  every  act  of  rebellion  committed  by  my  heart 
swells  the  heavy  account  that  is  betwixt  me  and  God  ; but 
the  account  is  already  against  me  to  my  entire  and  everlast- 
ing destruction — and  where  in  all  the  wide  compass  and 
variety  of  human  thought,  shall  we  find  a note  that  can 
stir  up  to  exertion  the  man  who  knows  that  he  is  undone  ? 
How,  in  the  name  of  wonder,  can  that  man  be  prevailed 
upon  to  help  himself  who  knows  that  upon  the  very  attempt 
there  lies  the  burden  of  an  impossibility  ? How  shall  a 
man  be  excited  to  seek  God  if  he  knows  that  there  is  an 
unsurmountable  barrier  between  them?  How  shall  He 
enter  upon  the  task  of  propitiating  His  mercy,  if  he  knows 
that  the  immutability  of  His  truth  lies  in  the  wray  of  it  ? and 
that  He  of  whom  it  is  said,  that  He  hath  spoken  and  will 
He  not  perform — hath  pronounced  a curse  upon  all  the 
children  of  iniquity  ? Ah  ! my  brethren,  had  He  not 
stepped  forward  Himself,  and  said,  in  the  language  of  my 
text,  that  I wrill  receive  you,  we  would  have  lived  without 
hope,  and  in  so  doing  we  would  have  lived  without  God  in 
the  world.  Had  these  tidings  of  the  gospel  not  reached 
us,  we  should  have  been  kept  down  to  our  old  habits  and 
our  old  ways  by  the  inactivity  of  despair ; and  it  is  not  till 
the  hope  of  making  good  our  return  dawn  upon  us,  and  the 
glad  prospect  of  acceptance  is  laid  before  us  to  lure  our 
footsteps  from  that  path  of  disobedience  in  which  we  had 
wandered,  that  we  shall  move  a single  inch  to  the  call  of — 
“Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  and 
touch  not  the  unclean  thing and  though  “ I will  receive 
you”  be  the  last  in  the  order  of  the  enumeration  put  down 
in  the  Bible,  it  is  among  the  first  in  the  order  of  influence 
upon  the  believer’s  mind ; nor  should  he  have  bestirred 
himself  in  the  great  work  of  seeking  after  God  had  not  the 
inviting  voice  of  Qod  Himself  waved  him  forward  and 
drawn  him  to  the  enterprise. 

But  God  hath  done  something  more  than  procla‘.n  an 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


299 


open  way  of  return  to  the  sinners  who  stand  afar  off.  He 
hath  told  us  how  that  way  is  opened.  He  has  explained 
to  us  the  mystery  of  sinners  being  brought  near,  and  being 
taken  into  acceptance.  He  has  not  left  us  to  guess,  and  to 
wonder,  and  to  suspect  the  purity  of  His  justice  and  the  in- 
flexibility of  His  truth,  and  to  look  upon  sin  as  a trifle  that 
may  be  easily  fallen  into  by  the  creature,  and  as  easily  con- 
nived at  by  the  Creator.  He  hath  made  known  His  mercy, 
but  not  till  He  got  that  mercy  to  meet  and  be  in  harmony 
with  His  truth.  He  hath  published  peace,  but  not  till  He 
established  a firm  alliance  between  peace  and  righteous- 
ness. Along  with  the  revelation  of  His  mercy  He  hath 
made  an  awful  vindication  of  the  majesty  of  His  high  at- 
tributes. It  is  true  He  condescended  to  put  Himself  into 
the  attitude  of  a petitioner,  and  implore  the  return  of  sin- 
ners, and  ply  them  with  the  assurances  of  His  willingness 
to  welcome  them  back  again.  Wonderful  attitude,  indeed, 
for  the  God  whose  law  had  been  trampled  upon,  and  who 
throughout  this  province  of  His  mighty  creation  had  a whole 
world  turned  in  one  wild  outcry  of  rebellion  against  Him  ; 
but  oh  ! my  brethren,  we  mistake  it,  if  we  think  that  the 
attitude,  wonderful  as  it  is,  was  the  attitude  of  fallen  maj- 
esty, or  of  a God  whose  throne  had  been  dismantled  of  all 
the  securities  which  upheld  it.  Oh,  no,  my  brethren  ; in 
this  mighty  triumph  of  mercy  there  was  the  triumph  of  His 
every  other  attribute ; and  while  the  messengers  of  God 
have  a full  warrant  to  pour  into  the  sinner’s  ear  the  plain- 
tive tenderness  of  a father  in  quest  of  his  children  who  had 
wandered  like  sheep  among  the  mountains  away  from  him 
— the  warrant  is  put  into  their  hands  by  Him,  who  having 
magnified  the  law  and  made  it  honorable,  has  caused  the 
truth  and  the  righteousness  of  God  to  burst  forth  in  brighter 
manifestation  than  ever  upon  the  eyes  of  a guilty  and  hum- 
bled world. 

This  resolves  the  whole  mystery.  Sinners  who  stand 
afar  off  are  brought  near  to  God  through  Him  that  died 
the  just  for  the  unjust.  He  bare  our  sins  on  His  body  upon 
the  tree,  and  His  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  This  is  the 


300 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON 


sure  way  of  access.  This  is  the  well-ordered  covenant. 
It  is  because  the  mighty  obstruction  is  removed  by  Him 
who  traveled  in  the  greatness  of  His  strength,  that  God 
says,  without  the  drawback  of  a single  impediment,  “Come 
out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch  not 
the  unclean  thing,  and  I will  receive  you.”  It  is  the  as- 
surance of  being  received — it  is  the  confidence  that  every 
bar  which  lay  on  the  road  of  access  has  been  cleared  away 
— it  is  a faith  in  the  sufficiency  of  what  the  great  Mediator 
has  done  for  us,  that  gives  the  returning  sinner  ali  his  en- 
couragement to  begin  the  work  of  repentance.  It  is  this 
belief  in  the  Son  of  God  which  gives  a security  to  the  very 
first  acts  of  repentance,  which  carries  him  forward  through 
all  the  successive  steps  of  that  process  by  which  he  recovers 
the  lost  image  of  Him  who  created  him,  which  upholds  him 
through  all  the  varied  scenes,  and  dangers,  and  enterprises 
of  the  Christian  warfare,  and  at  length,  by  the  continued 
supplies  of  that  grace  which  is  so  richly  provided  for  all 
who  ask  it,  makes  him  stand  perfect  and  complete  in  the 
whole  will  of  God.  It  is  Christ  who  hath  done  all  this.  It 
is  He,  the  memorials  of  whose  atonement  are  placed  be- 
fore your  eyes,  that  hath  made  this  plain  way  for  the  feet 
of  every  returning  penitent.  It  is  through  Jesus  Christ 
evidently  set  forth  crucified  before  you,  that  you  draw  near 
to  God  in  all  those  exercises  of  hope  and  dependence  and 
new  obedience,  that  are  prescribed  by  Him,  and  are  alone 
acceptable  through  Him.  It  is  He,  the  symbols  of  whose 
death  we  are  this  day  employed  in  contemplating,  who 
hath  opened  through  the  vail  of  His  flesh  a new  and  a liv- 
ing way  of  access  to  God.  Out  of  that  way  there  is  no 
hope,  and  where  there  is  no  hope  there  is  no  steady  nor 
acceptable  godliness.  I could  not  move  towards  a being 
who  scowled  severity  upon  me.  I could  not  attempt  to 
soften  the  God  who  stood  before  mine  eyes  shielded  in  all 
the  inflexibility  of  unappeased  justice.  I am  kept  down  by- 
all  the  oppressive  languor  of  helplessness  and  despair  from 
offering  obedience  to  Him  of  whom  it  is  said  that  He  can- 
not be  mocked,  and  whose  truth  and  purity  demand  that 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


301 


He  should  spurn  my  wretched  attempts  in  abhorrence  away 
from  Him.  But  in  Christ  every  bond  is  loosed,  and  every 
difficulty  is  done  away — and  the  soft  whisper  of  that  par- 
don which  He  has  purchased,  and  of  that  mercy,  the  gates 
of  which  He  has  unlocked  and  let  down  in  plenteous  re- 
demption upon  a despairing  world,  sends  the  right  and  the 
effectual  influence  into  a sinner’s  heart;  and  it  is  my  prayer 
that  by  this  great  and  solemn  act  of  remembrance  you  may 
get  such  a new  and  affecting  view  of  the  way  of  repent- 
ance which  lies  so  clear  and  so  open  before  you,  that  from 
this  time  forward  you  may  cease  from  your  idols,  and  come 
out  from  among  them,  and  every  day  of  your  lives  may  be 
enabled  to  accomplish  a wider  and  a more  determined  sep- 
aration, and  to  touch  not  any  unclean  thing  which  God 
hateth — that  thus,  while  God,  out  of  Christ,  looking  upon 
you  as  He  did  upon  the  Egyptians  out  of  a cloud,  and  troub- 
ling your  souls  with  the  terrific  aspect  of  a consuming  fire, 
would  never  have  moved  your  approaches  toward  Him, 
may  you  now  be  prevailed  upon  to  turn  from  all  sin  by  the 
delightful  assurance  that  God  is  willing  to  receive  you;  and 
may  you  be  cheered  in  your  every  attempt  and  your  every 
performance  by  the  winning  countenance  of  God  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  and  not  imputing  unto 
them  their  trespasses. 

ADDRESS. 

The  great  and  specifical  end  of  that  affecting  solemnity 
we  are  now  engaged  in,  is  to  show  forth  the  death  of  Christ. 
This  is  our  infirmity,  my  brethren,  that  we  are  so  much 
the  creatures  of  what  is  present,  and  of  what  is  sensible. 
A thing  seen  makes  a distinct  and  a powerful  impression 
upon  us.  A thing  that  is  spiritual,  and  therefore  cannot  be 
seen,  is  conceived  but  faintly.  There  is  a natural  dark- 
ness about  us  through  which  the  realities  of  the  spiritual 
world  look  dim  and  distant,  and  leave  a very  languid  im- 
pression either  on  the  feelings  of  the  heart  or  on  the  pur- 
poses of  our  willing  and  acting  and  resolving  nature.  And 


302 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


this  holds  true  not  merely  of  what  is  spiritual,  but  of  what 
is  sensible  also,  if  that  which  is  sensible  be  not  present — if 
removed  from  us  by  the  length  of  many  ages,  it  can  only 
be  brought  home  by  an  act  of  remembrance,  or  rather  by 
a narrative  of  history — if  the  mind  must  put  itself  on  a 
jstretch  of  conception  in  order  to  lay  hold  of  it,  and  to  be 
impressed  by  it,  and  to  be  wakened  to  that  train  of  senti- 
ment it  is  fitted  to  inspire.  Now,  my  brethren,  the  death 
of  Christ  is  an  event  which  comes  under  the  latter  descrip- 
tion. In  contemplating  that  death,  the  mind  is  not  em- 
ployed on  a spiritual  object.  That  event  did  not  take  place 
beyond  the  confines  of  this  tangible  and  material  world.  It 
was  seen  by  the  eye  of  man  ; and  had  we  been  present  at 
the  Crucifixion,  that  which  we  are  now  employed  in  remem- 
bering would  have  come  home  with  all  the  force  and  all 
the  vivacity  of  an  actual  representation  upon  our  senses. 
But  we  are  now  placed  at  the  distance  of  many  hundred 
years  from  the  era  of  that  great  decease  which  was  accom- 
plished at  Jerusalem,  and  we  must  stir  ourselves  up  to  lay 
hold  of  it  by  an  act  of  apprehension,  and  we  must  summon 
all  our  powers  of  remembrance  and  of  conception  to  the 
exercise;  and  such  is  the  sluggishness  of  our  mental  facul- 
ties, that — do  our  uttermost — we  often  cannot  succeed  in 
realizing  anything  beyond  a very  dull  and  spiritless  imag- 
ination of  the  Saviour’s  death;  and  to  accommodate  to  this 
infirmity  did  our  Saviour  before  He  left  the  world,  kindly 
bequeath  and  recommend  to  us  the  use  of  an  expedient  by 
which  the  aid  of  sense  is  as  it  were  called  in  to  brighten 
that  impression  which  might  otherwise  have  been  so  dark 
and  ineffectual.  He  has  instituted  a lively  and  a touching 
memorial  of  the  whole  transaction.  He  has  consecrated  to 
the  remembrance  of  His  death  the  visible  symbols  of  bread 
and  of  wine.  He  has  so  decreed  it,  that  through  the  inlet 
of  the  senses  His  death  may  still  be  shown  forth,  and  He 
Himself  be  evidently  set  forth  crucified  before  us.  And 
what  I call  on  you,  my  brethren,  practically  to  observe  at 
present,  is  to  make  the  appointed  use  of  these  material  ele- 
ments— through  the  medium  of  the  bread  you  eat,  to  think 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


303 


of  the  Saviour’s  broken  body — through  the  medium  of  the 
wine  you  drink,  to  think  of  the  Saviour’s  shed  blood — to 
contemplate  by  the  eye  of  faith  the  real,  the  substantial, 
the  power-working  significancy  of  this  body  and  blood — 
how  by  the  one  the  whole  burden  of  your  iniquities  is  borne 
— how  by  the  other  you  are  cleansed  from  all  sin — how 
by  both  you  are  reconciled  to  the  great  Lawgiver — how 
through  the  rent  vail  of  the  Redeemer’s  flesh  you  may 
enter  with  boldness  the  presence  of  the  Eternal — and  how, 
if  your  mind  be  doing  wfith  the  cross  of  the  Saviour  what 
your  body  is  now  doing  with  the  memorials  of  the  Cross, 
you  are  standing  on  that  very  way  of  access  in  which  God 
will  rejoice  to  meet  you,  and  speak  quietly  to  you,  and  make 
no  more  mention  of  the  sins  whereby  you  have  sinned  against 
Him,  and  rejoice  over  you  to  do  all  manner  of  good,  and 
crown  you  with  His  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercy,  and 
give  you  peace  of  conscience  here  and  a growing  meet- 
ness  for  a crown  of  glory  hereafter. 

The  great  event  which  we  commemorate  by  the  keep- 
ing of  this  sacrament  is  the  death  of  the  Saviour.  The 
great  event  which  we  commemorate  by  the  keeping  of  the 
Sabbath  is  the  resurrection  of  the  Saviour.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that  the  first  disciples  did  not  take  the  week- 
day of  His  death  to  celebrate  that  institution  which  our 
Saviour  appointed  as  the  memorial  of  it — neither  did  they 
take  the  week-day  of  that  first  sacrament  at  which  our 
Saviour  Himself  presided,  and  where  He  ate  the  passover 
with  His  sorrowing  disciples.  They  remembered  His 
death  on  the  week-day  of  His  resurrection.  They  assem- 
bled to  break  bread  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  They 
fixed  on  the  great  day  of  Christian  triumph  as  the  occasion 
on  which  they  chose  to  commemorate  an  event  which  was 
clothed  at  the  time  in  every  character  of  sadness — which 
burst  upon  the  despairing  apostles  as  the  death-blow  of  all 
their  hopes — and  forced  them  to  give  up  all  their  fond  and 
splendid  anticipatious  of  Him  of  whom  they  thought  that 
verily  it  was  He  should  have  redeemed  Israel.  Christ 


304 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


arose  from  the  grave  and  restored  to  them  all  their  tri- 
umphant thoughts  of  the  Master  they  had  chosen — and 
they  fixed  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  the  sacrament 
of  the  Supper,  that  when  its  touching  symbols  reminded 
them  how  Christ  had  died,  the  day  on  which  they  made 
use  of  those  symbols  should  put  the  comfortable  suggestion 
into  their  hearts,  that  rather  He  is  risen  again.  I,  in  the 
same  manner,  call  on  you,  my  brethren,  to  mingle  the  Sab- 
batical with  the  sacramental  remembrance  ; and  while  you 
weep  over  the  afflicting  memorials  of  that  death  by  which 
the  whole  burden  of  a world’s  atonement  was  borne  by 
Him  who  in  that  hour  put  forth  all  His  strength  and  trav- 
ailed in  the  greatness  of  it,  sorrow  not  even  as  others  who 
have  no  hope ; but  think,  oh  think,  of  that  right  hand  of 
God  where  He  now  liveth,  and  that  place  of  glory  which 
He  now  occupies. 

But  indeed  the  words  of  the  institution  provide  for  this 
very  remembrance.  We  are  called  on  not  merely  to  show 
forth  the  Lord’s  death,  but  to  show  it  forth  till  He  come 
again.  Now,  from  what  quarter  are  we  to  look  for  Him  ? 
Not  from  the  prison-house  of  the  grave,  for  the  barrier  of 
this  confinement  He  has  already  broken ; not  from  the  toils 
of  His  contest  with  the  principalities  of  sin  and  of  death, 
for  this  contest  is  now  over,  and  He  has  already  ascended 
up  on  high,  laden  with  the  spoils  and  crowned  with  the 
triumphs  of  victory — not  from  the  dark  abodes  of  corrup- 
tion, for  He  has  already  cleared  His  unfettered  way  from 
the  whole  of  this  bondage*  and  the  men  of  Galilee  beheld 
Him  as  he  was  taken  up,  and  a cloud  received  Him  out  of 
their  sight,  and  a voice  was  heard  by  them,  asking — Why 
stand  ye  gazing  up  unto  heaven,  for  this  same  Jesus  which  is 
taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner 
as  ye  have  seen  Him  go  into  heaven  ? I should  like  you, 
my  brethren,  to  exercise  your  faith  on  this  solemn  and  af- 
fecting reality — I should  like  you  to  enter  from  this  mo- 
ment into  a firmer,  and  a faithfuller,  and  a more  closely 
felt  alliance  with  that  living  intercessor  who  is  now  look- 
ing over  you — who  sees  your  every  heart — who  takes  a 


SACRAMENTAL  SERMON. 


305 


note  of  all  its  movements  and  all  its  purposes — who  hands 
up  your  most  secret  aspirations  to  the  Father  who  sitteth 
on  the  throne,  and  is  ever  ready  to  plead  the  merit  of  His 
all-perfect  obedience  on  behalf  of  all  who  believe  in  Him. 
Let  the  spirit  of  this  hallowed  place  accompany  you  into 
the  world.  When  you  go  down  from  the  mount  of  com- 
munion, may  its  faith,  and  its  peace,  and  its  purposed  holi- 
, ness  go  along  with  you.  Walk  through  life  as  the  follow- 
ers of  Him  of  whom  you  have  now  witnessed  a good  con- 
fession in  the  eyes  of  men ; and  with  hearts  refreshed  by 
this  act  of  fellowship  with  the  Father,  go  back  to  your  busi- 
ness and  your  homes  more  strengthened  than  ever  for  all 
duty,  more  devoted  than  ever  to  all  the  pursuits  and  to  all 
the  performances  of  holiness. 


' SERMON  IX. 

[Preached  at  Glasgow,  26th  November,  1815.] 

LUKE  IV.  1-13. 

And  Jesus,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  returned  from  Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit 
into  the  wilderness,  being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  devil.  And  in  those  days  he  did 
eat  nothing : and  when  they  were  ended,  he  afterward  hungered.  And  the  devil  said 
unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  this  stone  that  it  be  made  bread.  And 
Jesus  answered  him,  saying,  It  is  written,  That  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but 
by  every  word  of  God.  And  the  devil,  taking  him  up  into  an  high  mountain,  shewed 
unto  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a moment  of  time.  And  the  devil  said  unto 
him,  All  this  power  will  I give  thee,  and  the  glory  of  them,  for  that  is  delivered  unto 
me ; and  to  whomsoever  I will  I give  it.  If  thou  therefore  wilt  worship  me,  all  shall 
be  thine.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  : for  it 
is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.  And 
he  brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  set  him  on  a pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  said  unto 
him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down  from  hence:  for  it  is  written,  He 
shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee ; and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear 
thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a stone.  And  Jesus  answering, 
said  unto  him,  It  is  said,  Thou  shall  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God.  And  when  the  devil 
had  ended  all  the  temptation,  he  departed  from  him  for  a season.” 

Verse  1. — “ And  Jesus,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  re- 
turned from  Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wil- 
derness.” It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  as  Jesus  in  His  hu- 
man nature  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  so 
He  overcame  that  temptation  by  the  very  same  power 
which  is  in  a measure  bestowed  upon  us  for  combating 
with  temptation.  He  overcame  Himself,  and  it  is  out  of 
His  fullness  that  we  receive  that  which  enables  us  to  over- 
come also.  He  was  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  His  combat 
with  the  great  adversary.  It  was  a contest  between  the 
power  of  God’s  Spirit  and  of  the  spirit  which  worketh  in 
the  children  of  disobedience.  The  parties  in  the  contest, 
when  Christ  our  head  was  engaged,  were  the  very  same 
with  the  parties  in  the  contest  when  we  His  members  are 
engaged. 

Verse  2. — “ Being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  devil.  And 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


307 


in  those  days  he  did  eat  nothing:  and  when  they  were 
ended,  he  afterward  hungered.”  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  appellation  of  “ devil”  here  is  restricted  to  one  particular 
being  ; and  with  us  it  has  all  the  limited  signification  of  a 
proper  name.  But  the  term  in  the  original  is  descriptive 
of  character — given  originally  to  the  prince  of  the  apostate 
angels,  because  it  characterized  him,  but  also  occasionally 
used  in  the  Bible  in  its  general  signification.  Thus,  if  taken 
in  its  original  meaning,  it  may  be,  and  actually  is  in  some 
parts  of  the  Bible,  applied  to  human  beings.  In  its  primi- 
tive sense,  it  signifies  a false  accuser,  or  a slanderer,  or  a 
traducer.  (1  Tim.  iii.  11  ; 2 Tim.  iii.  3;  Tit.  ii.  3;  John 
vi.  70).  Satan  is  another  name  applied  to  the  prince  of  the 
apostate  angels.  It  is  also  significant  of  character  or  state, 
and  means  an  adversary. 

Verse  3. — “And  the  devil  said  unto  him,  If  thou  be  the 
Son  of  God,  command  this  stone  that  it  be  made  bread.” 
We  have,  in  all  probability,  very  far  from  a full  record  of 
all  the  wiles  and  suggestions  of  the  tempter.  Christ  was 
tempted  forty  days — it  is  thought  by  the  mere  instigations 
which  the  devil  put  into  His  heart ; but  that  he  afterwards, 
at  the  end  of  this  time,  appeared  to  Him  in  a visible  form, 
when  He  was  ahungered  with  long  abstinence,  and  then 
plied  Him  with  three  great  and  last  attempts  to  seduce, 
Him  from  His  post  of  entire  trust  and  entire  obedience  to 
God. 

Verse  4. — “And  Jesus  answered  him,  saying,  It  is  writ- 
ten, That  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every 
word  of  God.”  When  Jesus  took  upon  Him  human  nature, 
He  did  so  for  the  express  purpose  that  He  should  suffer 
and  that  He  should  do  as  a brother  of  the  species.  It  is 
the  perfection  of  his  human  obedience  which  renders  His 
example  applicable  to  us ; and  it  is  this  which  qualified 
Him  for  being  a High  Priest  for  others.  He  Tiad  no  sins 
of  His  own  to  atone  for.  He  knew  no  sin,  yet  became  a 
sin-offering  for  us ; and  it  is  the  purity  of  His  obedience  as 
a man  which  is  imputed  for  righteousness  to  them  who  be- 
lieve on  Him.  Now,  had  He  made  use  of  His  miraculous 


308 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


power  for  the  purpose  of  exempting  Himself  from  those 
sufferings  which  were  laid  upon  Him  by  His  Father,  this 
would  not  only  have  impaired  the  perfection  of  His  suffering 
obedience,  but  would  have  made  it  quite  useless  to  us  as  an 
example — for  we  have  not  the  miraculous  power  that  He 
had  ever  in  readiness  to  be  exerted  in  the  hour  of  calamity. 
It  would  have  been  a positive  non-compliance  with  the  ap- 
pointment of  His  Father ; for  you  will  observe  that  His 
situation  in  the  remote  wilderness,  and  the  consequent  hun- 
ger which  His  distance  from  the  .supplies  of  food  brought 
upon  Him,  was  not  a thing  of  His  own  doing.  He  was  led 
by  the  Spirit  into  His  present  situation — there  He  was  by 
the  will  of  God^  It  was  not  for  Him  to  do  anything,  but  to 
wait  the  issue  of  God’s  counsel  concerning  Him.  To  work 
a miracle  in  order  to  repair  the  necessary  evil  of  the  situa- 
tion into  which  God  had  brought  Him,  were  to  distrust  God. 
The  language  for  Him  was,  My  Father  brought  me  here, 
and  He  will  carry  me  in  safety  out  again.  The  pain  He 
felt  from  hunger  was  of  God’s  laying  on ; and  should  He 
endeavor  to  assuage  it  by  a miracle,  this  wrere  an  advantage 
to  Himself,  but  no  advantage  in  the  way  of  example,  no 
advantage  to  the  individuals  of  that  species  whose  form  He 
put  on,  and  whose  infirmities  He  bore,  and  whose  sufferings 
He  underwent — that  He  might  set  Himself  before  them  an 
example  that  they  should  walk  in  His  steps.  It  would  have 
frustrated  this  purpose  entirely,  besides  being  a positive  act 
of  dissent  from  the  will  of  God  which  brought  Him  to  His 
present  situation,  and  which  laid  upon  Him  all  his  sufferings. 
The  gift  of  working  miracles  belonged  to  Him  as  a talent 
for  the  use  of  others,  and  not  as  a privilege  for  the  ease  or 
gratification  of  Himself.  There  is  another  remarkable  ex- 
ample of  His  abstaining  from  the  exercise  of  miraculous 
power,  when  it  Gould  have  served  the  purpose  of  delivering 
Him  from  His  enemies.  He  could  have  obtained  the  as- 
sistance of  twelve  legions  to  deliver  Him  from  the  hands 
of  His  murderers  ; but  He  forbore — for  had  He  done  so,  it 
would  have  frustrated  the  purposes  of  His  mission.  That 
example  reflects  an  explanation  on  the  present  one.  The 


• THE  TEMPTATION. 


309 


sentiment  with  which  He  repelled  the  instigation  of  the 
tempter  was  a sentiment  of  trust  in  God.  God  brought  me 
here,  and  He  can  provide  for  me  here.  I am  not  to  step 
out  of  my  way  to  save  myself  from  the  painfulness  of  a sit- 
uation of  God’s  putting  me  into.  I am  not  to  do  what  is 
undutiful  or  untrustful  to  recover  the  mischiefs  of  a state 
which  was  brougb  on  by  Him,  and  not  by  any  independent 
movement  of  my  >wn  human  will  at  all.  Here  I am  by 
His  will ; and  nr,  confidence  is  in  His  wisdom,  and  in  the 
power  of  His  word,  which  is  able,  if  He  so  choose,  to  keep 
me  alive  in  the  absence  of  all  ordinary  means.  There  is 
one  remarkable  peculiarity  worthy  of  all  observation  in 
this  verse,  Christ  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness. 
It  was  in  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit  that  He  entered  into  the 
contest  with  the  great  adversary  of  men.  It  was  by  the 
armor  of  the  Spirit’s  suggestion  that  He  was  enabled  to 
overcome  all  the  artfulness  and  all  the  allurement  of  the 
suggestions  of  the  tempter.  But  still  the  suggestion  with 
which  He  combated  and  overcame,  though  given  Him  by 
he  Spirit,  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  a quotation  from 
the  Bible.  This  is  a fine  illustration  of  the  passage  where 
the  word  of  God  is  called  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  It  may 
practically  be  of  great  use  to  all  of  you.  Take  every  prac- 
ticable and  ordinary  means  for  making  yourselves  acquainted 
with  your  Bibles.  Store  your  minds  with  its  sayings  and 
its  passages,  for  they  constitute — if  I may  be  allowed  the 
expression — the  material  armor  by  which  you  wrestle  with 
the  enemies  of  your  salvation.  When  tempted,  for  example, 
to  evil  company,  it  is  no  doubt  the  Spirit  that  will  enable 
you  to  turn  aside  from  this  temptation  ; but  it  is  not  by  any 
visitation  of  extraordinary  light  upon  the  subject  of  this 
danger.  He  may  do  no  more  than  exercise  His  office  of 
bringing  all  things  to  remembrance,  by  bringing  the  single 
text — “ Be  not  deceived  ; evil  communications  corrupt  good 
manners,”  to  bear  with  powerful  efficacy  i pon  your  under- 
standings and  your  fears.  This  is  the  general  way  in  which 
He  acts.  We  have  no  reason  to  expect  that  in  any  given 
case  He  will  ever  act  otherwise.  It  is  presumption  to  trust 


310 


THE  TEMPTATION.  * 


in  any  other  kind  of  illumination  than  by  the  words  of 
Scripture  being  made  luminous  and  impressive  to  you ; or 
in  any  other  kind  of  defense  than  by  the  moral  influence  of 
the  lessons  of  Scripture  upon  the  choice  and  conduct  of  the 
believer.  There  is  something  highly  interesting  in  this  in- 
troduction of  the  Bible  as  the  weapon  made  use  of  by  the 
Son  of  God,  to  carry  Him  through  the  contest  with  the 
prince  an  1 the  leader  of  that  mighty  rebellion,  which  seems 
to  have  spread  so  extensively  over  some  higher  fields  of 
creation.  Let  it  rebuke  our  irreverence  for  the  sacred 
volume — let  it  chase  away  the  fanaticism  of  all  unscriptural 
visions  and  unscriptural  inspirations  from  the  religion  which 
we  profess,  and  to  which  we  do  injustice  if  we  strip  it  of 
the  dignity  of  reason,  or  graft  upon  it  the  weaknesses  of  a 
superstitious  fancy.  Let  it  teach  us,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
we  do  wrong  by  resting  a security  on  the  naked  promise 
of  the  Spirit  to  guide  and  to  enlighten  us — for  the  Spirit 
does  so,  not  against  and  not  without,  but  with  the  use  of 
the  Bible ; and  we  have  no  right  whatever  to  expect  that 
He  will  make  use  of  this  instrument  in  our  behalf,  if  we  do 
not  take  the  prescribed  way  of  using  it  in  our  own  behalf. 
Let  us  be  diligent  in  the  exercise  of  all  ordinary  means  for 

flowing  in  the  knowledge  and  in  the  remembrance  of  it — 
et  it  be  our  daily  perusal ; and  let  us  never  think  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  overcome  temptation  with  our  minds  away 
from  the  Bible — but  that  it  is  when  the  lessons  of  the  Bible 
are  present  to  our  minds,  when  we  have  laid  up  the  word 
of  God  in  our  heart,  that  we  do  not  offend  Him. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  let  us  not  forget,  that  though  it 
was  by  a quotation  from  the  Bible  that  our  great  Patron 
repelled  the  instigation  of  our  great  adversary,  He  was  all 
the  white  under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit.  It  was  in  the 
fullness  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  He  grappled  with  the  mighty 
enemy  of  human  salvation.  While  we  read,  then,  let  us  feel 
at  the  same  time  our  dependence  on  Him  who  alone  can 
make  us  understand  what  we  read  with  a saving  and  a 
spiritual  discernment ; and  while  we  exercise  our  memory 
upon  what  we  read,  let  us  feel  our  dependence  at  the  same 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


31' 


time  on  Him  who  alone  can  bring  things  to  our  remem- 
brance so  as  to  suit  our  occasions,  and  who  can  give  us 
grace  to  help  us  in  the  time  of  need  by  bringing  into  our 
mind  that  verse,  or  that  passage*  or  that  scriptural  senti- 
ment, which  will  serve  as  the  appropriate  suggestion  for 
repelling  the  temptation  on  hand.  Now,  this  is  the  right 
and  compound  attitude  of  those  who  busy  themselves  in 
either  learning  the  way  of  salvation,  or  walking  in  that 
way.  It  is  only  with  the  ordinary  use  of  the  Bible,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  dependence  of  faith  on  the  pure  and  life- 
giving  Spirit,  on  the  other,  that  we  complete  the  prepara- 
tion for  fighting  with  all  the  enemies  of  our  souls,  and  may 
be  said  to  have  taken  to  ourselves  the  whole  armor  of  God. 

In  the  order  of  the  narrative  by  Matthew,  what  is  re- 
corded by  Luke  as  the  last  and  concluding  attempt  of  the 
devil,  is  brought  in  as  immediately  succeeding  the  one  that 
I have  now  so  largely  insisted  on.  I shall  therefore  at 
present  pass  over  the  intermediate  verses,  and  go  on  to  the 
ninth  verse.  The  last  sentiment  which  our  Saviour  ex- 
pressed was  a sentiment  of  reliance  upon  God.  God  hath 
brought  me  into  a way  of  His  own  choosing  ; and  I will 
submit  to  all  the  sufferings  of  that  way,  and  will  rather 
trust  to  some  miraculous  exercise  of  power  in  my  favor, 
than  by  an  act  of  distrust  and  an  act  of  undutifulness  make 
any  attempt  to  escape  these  sufferings  myself.  The  present 
temptation  is  most  artfully  accommodated  to  this  state  of 
mind.  Let  me  now  try  the  extent  of  your  trust  in  the 
power  of  God — throw  yourself  from  this  pinnacle  of  the 
temple,  and  see  what  God’s  power  can  accomplish  for  you. 
You  have  brought  one  verse  from  the  Bible  to  repel  my 
last  suggestion,  I will  bring  another  to  enforce  my  present 
one.  And  thus,  with  a besetting  plausibility  of  argument 
and  address,  does  this  Satan  ask  it  of  our  Saviour  to  cast 
Himself  down  from  hence,  “ For  it  is  written,  He  shall  give 
His  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee ; and  in  their 
hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash 
thy  foot  against  a stone.”  The  answer  to  this  proposal  is 
given  in  verse  12 — “It  is  said,  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


312 

Lord  thy  God.”  To  tempt  signifies  to  try.  The  effect  of 
a trial  is  often  a discovery  of  the  sinfulness  and  deceitful- 
ness of  him  who  is  the  subject  of  it ; and  hence,  to  tempt 
has  got  another  signification  distinct  from  the  original  one 
— to  allure,  to  seduce.  But  here  you  must  take  it  accord- 
ing to  its  original  meaning — thou  shalt  not  put  God  to  the 
proof — thou  shalt  not  make  an  experiment  of  God.  But  it 
is  said  here,  “ The  Lord  thy  God.”  Now  the  God  whom 
you  have  embraced  as  a reconciled  Father  may  be  called 
thy  God.  Jesus  could  well  appropriate  God  in  this  man- 
ner; and  you  may  understand  wherein  the  sinfulness  of 
tempting  God  consists,  by  figuring  to  yourself  the  case  of 
a friend  whom  you  had  every  reason  to  trust,  but  whom  in 
point  of  fact  you  were  not  perfectly  sure  of,  and  upon  whom 
you  made  an  experiment  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  his 
fidelity  and  the  extent  of  his  regard  for  you.  For  this  pur- 
pose you  might  create  a case,  or  you  might  feign  a neces- 
sity, with  the  view  of  ascertaining  what  the  conduct  of 
your  doubtful  friend  would  be.  Now  does  not  this  imply 
an  ungenerous  suspicion  of  him  ? Is  there  not  a want  of 
trust  in  the  very  attempt  to  make  yourself  surer  of  him 
than  you  feel  yourself  to  be  at  this  moment?  And  if  you 
have  every  reason  to  repose  in  the  faithfulness  and  in  the 
constancy  of  his  affection,  were  it  not  a more  generous 
confidence  on  your  part  to  carry  about  with  you  the  gen- 
eral assurance — “ If  I get  involved  in  necessities  I am  sure 
he  wrill  step  forward  to  get  me  out  of  them,”  than  for  you 
to  step  out  of  your  way,  and  either  create  or  feign  a ne- 
cessity for  the  purpose  of  trying  him  ? And  so  of  God, 
my  brethren,  in  the  present  case,  in  reference  to  Christ. 
He  had  already  given  proof  of  the  confidence  He  rested 
on  the  support  of  His  Father  and  of  His  Friend  by  the  way 
in  which  He  resisted  the  first  instigation  of  the  great  adver- 
sary. I will  not  step  out  of  the  way  in  order  to  deliver 
myself  from  the  evils  of  a situation  into  which  God  hath 
Himself  led  me — I will  not  break  a duty  to  do  so.  I will 
not  put  my  power  of  working  miracles  to  a different  use 
from  that  for  which  it  was  conferred  upon  me.  This 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


313 


power  was  not  conferred  for  the  purpose  of  helping  myself 
out  of  the  trials  which  God  is  pleased  to  lay  on  me,  and  to 
make  this  use  of  it  would  be  an  act  of  distrust  and  an  act 
of  rebellion.  Oh,  no  ! here  I am  by  His  will,  and  I leave 
myself  with  unbounded  confidence  to  His  wisdom.  Now 
observe  the  address  and  the  promptitude  with  which  His 
able  and  intelligent  adversary  avails  himself  of  this  state 
of  sentiment  in  the  mind  of  Jesus.  Give  us  a proof  of  this 
confidence — cast  yourself  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  this 
temple — let  not  your  distrust  in  God  arrest  you  or  make 
you  hesitate  about  doing  this,  for  He  will  bear  you  up  ; and 
out  of  those  very  Scriptures  from  which  you  have  gotten 
your  argument  against  my  first  instigation,  do  I bring  an 
argument  in  behalf  of  my  second  instigation,  for  it  is  writ- 
ten, how  He  has  given  His  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep 
thee ; and  how  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest 
at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a stone. 

Now  mark  the  still  superior  intelligence  and  address 
with  which  our  Saviour  extricated  Himself  from  this  wile 
of  the  advesary.  He  perceived  where  the  art  lay,  and  He 
saw  through  the  covering  of  plausibility  which  he  who  had 
the  power  of  transforming  himself  into  an  angel  of  light 
spread  over  it;  and  by  the  answer,  Thou  shalt  not  tempt 
the  Lord  thy  God,  He  most  entirely  vindicated  the  con- 
sistency of  his  own  sentiments,  and  most  triumphantly  re- 
pelled this  renewed  attack  of  the  tempter.  I would  not 
go  out  of  my  way  to  distrust  God’s  faithfulness  ; but  neither 
will  I go  out  of  the  way  to  put  his  faithfulness  to  the  trial. 
If  God  put  me  into  a given  situation,  I am  sure  that  out  of 
all  its  evils  and  all  its  difficulties  He  will  extricate  me ; but 
I will  not  put  myself,  by  any  wanton,  or  arbitrary,  or  un- 
dutiful  act  of  mine,  into  any  given  situation  with  the  view 
of  an  experimenting  on  the  kindness  and  the  fidelity  of  God. 
Of  that  kindness  and  that  fidelity  I entertain  the  most  un- 
shaken assurance.  Sustained  by  this  principle  I will  endure 
all  the  agonies  of  hunger,  till  the  same  Spirit  who  led  me 
into  this  wilderness  leads  me  out  of  it.  I am  here  by  His 
will ; nor  will  I take  one  unwarrantable  step  to  alleviate 
vol.  vr. — O 


314 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


the  burden  of  these  trials  which  He  is  pleased  to  lay  upon 
me  ; but  it  is  the  very  strength  of  this  confidence  upon 
which  Satan  is  persuading  me  to  put  my  Friend  and  my 
Father  to  the  trial  that  makes  me  resist  such  an  experi- 
ment, and  repel  the  artful  suggestion  which  would  lead 
me  to  it.  I will  not  betray  a distrust  in  God  by  gQing  out 
of  the  way  to  provide  myself  with  bread ; neither  will  I 
betray  a distrust  in  God  by  going  out  of  my  way  to  ascer- 
tain a point  which  I am  already  sure  of.  Oh ! it  was  a 
deep  and  artful  policy  which  lay  at  the  bottom  of  this 
second  instigation ; but  does  not  this  just  heighten  your 
esteem  for  the  discernment  of  that  superior  wisdom  which 
overmatched  and  overruled  it  ? and  in  the  pure  and  deli- 
cate and  correct  line  of  conduct  which  was  followed  by 
our  Saviour,  do  you  not  perceive  both  the  reach  of  a com- 
manding sagacity,  and  the  harmonious  workings  of  one 
noble,  consistent,  and  well-sustained  principle  ? 

This  passage  of  our  Saviour’s  history  admits,  I think,  of 
many  interesting  applications.  But  at  present  I shall  con- 
clude with  one  remark  which,  if  kept  in  mind,  might  pre- 
pare you  for  the  various  lessons  wherewith  the  narrative 
of  our  Saviour’s  temptation  is  charged.  I beg  that  you 
will  make  a distinct  exercise  of  attempting  to  get  the  better 
of  those  ludicrous  and  degrading  associations  which  the 
very  name  and  conception  of  the  devil  do  in  fact  bring  into 
the  mind.  It  is  most  unfortunate  when  any  one  item  in  the 
list  of  revealed  truths  is  contemplated  in  such  a light  as  to 
have  anything  of  the  mean  or  the  familiar,  and  far  more,  of 
the  light  and  jocular,  annexed  to  it.  I have  no  doubt 
that  the  general  levity  of  sentiment  which  obtains  even 
among  professing  Christians  upon  this  subject  is  the  work 
of  one  of  his  own  artifices.  Its  undoubted  effect  is  to  dis- 
guise from  the  eye  of  your  own  minds  the  power  and  the 
seriousness  of  your  own  enemies — to  lull  you  into  a securi- 
ty where  no  security  should  be  felt — to  make  you  laugh 
when  you  ought  to  be  alarmed — to  seduce  you  from  the 
post  of  vigilance  you  are  everywhere  called  upon  to  main- 
tain—and  to  fill  you  with  giddiness  upon  a subject  on  which 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


315 


you  ought  to  feel  all  the  solemnity  of  a Bible  doctrine,  and 
all  the  seriousness  of  a danger  that,  if  not  guarded  against, 
may  beset  you  to  your  final  and  everlasting  destruction. 
Is  there  anything  in  the  passage  now  submitted  to  you,  that 
throws  the  slightest  air  of  wantonness  over  this  department 
in  the  field  of  revelation?  Do  you  not  see  in  it  all  the  talent 
and  skill  of  an  archangel,  guided  no  doubt  by  the  malignity 
of  his  fallen  nature,  but  bringing  all  the  resources  of  a most 
consummate  art  into  this  one  battle  with  the  Captain  of  our 
salvation — and  overborne  only  by  that  superior  reach  of 
discernment,  and  that  superior  force  of  principle,  which 
belonged  to  Him  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wis- 
dom and  knowledge.  Point  me  a single  other  passage  of 
the  Bible  that  can  at  all  justify  the  senseless  levities  which 
are  indulged  upon  this  topic.  Is  it  in  that  high  and  pro- 
phetic vision  of  the  Son  of  God,  when  He  said,  I beheld 
Satan  fall  like  lightning  from  heaven — or  in  that  verse 
where  he  is  called  the  god  of  this  world — or  in  that  where 
the  mighty  work  of  the  Saviour  is  stated  to  consist  in  the 
destroying  of  his  works — or  in  the  anxious  and  repeated 
warnings  by  which  the  disciples  are  everywhere  plied, 
that  they  may  resist  him,  that  they  may  guard  against 
him,  that  they  may  not  keep  themselves  ignorant  of  his 
devices,  that  they  may  not  be  taken  captives  by  him  at  his 
pleasure,  that  they  ma.y  not  be  blinded  by  him  lest  the 
glorious  gospel  of  Christ  should  shine  upon  them  ? Ah  ! 
my  brethren,  we  see  not  the  matter  aright,  if  we  see  not 
the  most  sublime  and  eventful  contest  going  on  among  the 
upper  orders  of  creation,  and  that  the  sovereignty  over 
men  is  the  grand  object  of  the  contest.  In  the  passage 
before  us,  you  see  Satan  in  visible  alarm  for  the  security 
of  his  usurped  dominions  ; and  you  see  him  foiled  in  his 
first  attempt  on  the  great  Prince  and  Deliverer  of  mankind, 
who  in  the  mighty  travail  of  His  soul,  put  forth  all  the 
greatness  of  His  strength,  and  spoiled  principalities  and 
powers,  and  made  a show  of  them  openly.  This  is  the 
actual  situation  of  the  world — a mighty  stage  of  conflict 
and  ambition  to  higher  beings,  who  are  aspiring  after  the 


316 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


mastery  over  it.  We  are  the  subjects  of  this  great  and 
mighty  contention ; and  is  it,  I would  ask,  is  it  a right  ex- 
ercise for  us  to  lift  the  idiot  laugh,  and  scatter  our  ridicu- 
lous allusions  around  a matter  of  which  the  Bible  has 
attested  the  solemn  and  impressive  reality,  and  in  which 
the  fate  of  our  eternity  is  so  deeply  involved  ? Ah  ! my 
brethren,  you  are  not  rightly  prepared  for  the  contest,  if 
you  remain  thus  willfully  and  wantonly  ignorant  of  the 
enemies  that  beset  you — you  have  not  yet  put  on  the 
whole  armor  of  God,  if  the  habitual  attitude  of  resistance 
to  the  great  adversary  be  not  diligently  maintained  by  you 
— you  have  not  done  all  to  stand,  if  you  exercise  not  that 
faith  in  Christ  by  which  alone  you  are  enabled  to  withstand 
him  whose  works  Christ  came  to  destroy — you  do  not  see 
the  matter  aright,  if  in  every  temptation  which  crosses 
your  path,  and  in  every  evil  thought  wrhich  would  lead 
you  from  the  belief  or  the  love  or  the  practice  of  the  gos- 
pel, you  do  not  recognize  another  and  another  attempt  of 
him  who  is  incessantly  warring  against  the  soul : And 
happy  shall  I be,  my  brethren,  should  these  hints  give  such 
a direction  to  the  desire  and  the  doings  of  any  one  of  you, 
as  may  help  you  forward  in  that  great  business  of  sanctifi- 
cation, by  which  the  influence  of  the  Evil  One  over  your 
alienated  hearts  is  completely  done  away,  and  you  are 
rendered  altogether  meet  for  the  company  of  Him  in  heaven 
— whose  grace  dealt  out  to  you  on  earth  enables  you  to 
resist  the  devil,  and  purifies  you  from  all  spot  and  wrink- 
ling, and  restores  to  you  the  lost  image  of  your  Creator, 
and  prepares  you  for  the  fellowship  of  Him  and  of  the 
unfallen  angels  who  surround  His  throne. 


SERMON  XXL 

[Preached  at  Glasgow,  3d  December,  1815.] 


LUKE  IV.  1-13. 

‘And  Jesus,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  returned  from  Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit 
into  the  wilderness,  being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  devil.  And  in  those  days  he  did 
nothing : and  when  they  were  ended,  he  afterward  hungered.  And  the  devil  said  unto 
him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  this  stone  that  it  be  made  bread.  And  Jesus 
answered  him,  saying,  It  is  written,  That  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every 
word  of  God.  And  the  devil,  taking  him  up  into  an  high  mountain,  showed  unto  him  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a moment  of  time.  And  the  devil  said  unto  him,  All  this 
power  will  I give  thee,  and  the  glory  of  them,  for  that  is  delivered  unto  me  ; and  to  whom- 
soever I will  I give  it.  If  thou  therefore  wilt  worship  me,  all  shall  be  thine.  And  Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  him,  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  : for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt 
worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.  And  he  brought  him  to  Je- 
rusalem, and  set  him  on  a pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  said  unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  Son 
of  God,  cast  thyself  down  from  hence  : for  it  is  written,  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge 
over  thee,  to  keep  thee  ; and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou 
dash  thy  foot  against  a stone.  And  Jesus  answering,  said  unto  him,  It  is  said,  Thou  shalt 
not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God.  And  when  the  devil  had  ended  all  the  temptation,  he  de- 
parted from  him  for  a season.” 

Jesus  was  set  before  us  as  an  example  that  we  should 
follow  His  steps ; and  if  we  do  not  fasten  an  attentive  eye 
upon  all  that  He  did  in  this  lower  world,  we  do  not  fulfill 
the  duty  which  lies  upon  us  of  looking  unto  Jesus.  In  con- 
formity to  the  undoubted  truth  of  this  assertion,  that  all 
Scripture  is  profitable,  there  is  no  part  of  our  Savior’s  re- 
vealed history  which  may  not  be  turned  to  some  profitable 
account ; and  it  is  from  the  want  of  attention,  from  the  list- 
less and  superficial  style  of  our  reading  the  Bible,  and  run- 
ning over  the  task  of  its  successive  chapters,  that  so  many 
of  its  passages  are  just  of  as  little  significancy,  and  exert  as 
small  an  influence  over  us,  as  if  they  were  veiled  from  our 
eye  by  some  n^terial  covering,  or  occurred  at  intervals  as 
so  many  chasms  of  blank  paper.  Many  of  us,  perhaps, 
may  never  have  adverted  to  the  practical  lessons  that  may 
be  gathered  from  the  history  of  the  remarkable  encounter 
that  took  place  between  the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  arm- 


318 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


ed  as  He  was  with  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
that  great  adversary  who,  whatever  our  dark  and  degrad- 
ed conceptions  of  him,  is  at  the  head  of  a mighty  rebellion 
on  the  wide  theater  of  God’s  administration,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  a very  little  flock,  wields  an  entire  ascendency 
over  the  face  of  this  world  which  lieth  in  wickedness,  and 
claims  so  thorough  and  so  firm  a footing  in  this  province  of 
the  universe,  that  he  is  called  in  the  Bible  the  god  of  this 
world  ; and  who,  when  he  made  his  attack  upon  the  Savior, 
armed  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  entered  into  the  combat  with 
Him  by  the  opposing  armor  of  that  spirit  which  worketh 
in  the  children  of  disobedience ; and  the  result  of  the  con- 
test, wherein  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  was  engaged, 
was  just  the  same  with  what  the  result  will  be  of  that  act- 
ual contest  which  he  carries  on  with  the  members  of  the 
Church ; even  those  who  hold  Christ  the  Head,  and  who, 
receiving  out  of  His  fullness  the  same  Spirit  of  God,  will 
be  enabled  to  overcome  on  this  principle,  that  greater  is 
He  who  is  in  them  than  he  who  is  in  the  world. 

But  we  have  not  gathered  all  the  information  that  is  to 
be  gotten  out  of  the  passage  before  us,  until  we  have  ascer- 
tained what  the  precise  moral  lessons  are  which  the  con- 
duct of  Christ,  under  the  particular  temptations  by  which 
He  was  assailed,  is  fitted  to  impress.  Do  any  cases  occur 
in  the  whole  history  of  man,  bearing  such  a resemblance  to 
the  cases  of  the  text  that  we  may  obtain  out  of  them  a 
pointed  and  particular  instruction  of  Go,  and  do  likewise  ? 
Tell  me  a single  case,  for  example,  that  can  make  out  any- 
thing like  a parallel  between  the  situation  of  a human  be- 
ing and  the  situation  of  Jesus  Christ,  when  He  was  tempted 
by  the  instigation  of  commanding  this  stone  that  it  be  made 
bread.  Why,  my  brethren,  I believe  that  out  of  this  pas- 
sage a principle  may  be  gathered  applicable  to  a thousand 
diversities  in  the  history  of  human  affairs ; but  instead  of 
announcing  a general  principle,  and  then  applying  it  to  cas- 
es, I have  often  thought  it  a more  effectual  way  to  begin 
with  stating  an  impressive  case,  and  out  of  that  evolving  a 
clear  and  commanding  principle.  I direct  your  attention, 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


319 


then,  all  at  once  to  the  very  frequent  and  familiar  case  of  a 
man  on  the  eve  of  bankruptcy,  when  he  is  agitated  by  all 
the  forebodings  of  controversy,  when  futurity  lowers  upon 
him,  and  his  heart  bleeds  within  him  at  the  approaching 
descent  which  his  family  must  soon  make  before  the  eye 
of  the  public.  I do  not  say  that  the  resemblance  between 
nim  and  his  great  pattern  lies  in  his  having  to  sustain  the 
ouffeting  of  a personal  encounter  with  the  adversary  of  his 
soul ; but  think  not,  my  brethren,  think  not  that  the  vigilant 
eye  of  this  prince  of  darkness  is  not  upon  him — that  he  is 
not  making  every  use  of  his  opportunity  to  secure  a subject 
to  his  dominions ; and,  though  he  does  not  whisper  the 
temptation  into  his  ear,  think  not  that  he  is  not  plying  his 
heart  with  an  allurement  which  many,  I fear,  in  the  unhap- 
py circumstances  I am  now  conceiving,  have  found  to  be 
irresistible.  He  does  not  just  say,  Command  this  stone  that 
it  be  made  bread  ; but  does  he  not  come  round  the  despair- 
ing man  with  his  busy  suggestions,  and  make  every  trial  to 
shake  him  out  of  his  integrity,  and  fill  his  agitated  bosom 
with  the  painful  image  of  a beggared  family,  even  as  the 
bosom  of  the  Savior  was  filled  with  the  agonies  of  hunger  ? 
And  do  you  not  think  ihat  he  has  some  hand  in  the  affair 
when  the  deluded  man  is  meditating  on  unfair  and  dishon- 
orable expedients  for  securing  some  fragment  to  himself 
out  of  the  wreck  of  his  ruined  speculation  ? Ah  ! my  breth- 
ren, it  is  he  who,  in  effect,  has  commanded  that  such  goods 
as  can  be  easily  conveyed  from  the  notice  of  creditors  shall 
be  turned  into  bread.  It  is  he  who  sets  you  on  some  plan 
of  secrecy  for  turning  all  you  can  lay  your  hand  on  into  a 
provision  for  yourself  and  for  your  children.  It  is  he  who 
glosses  over  the  dishonesty  of  the  proceeding,  and  lulls  the 
conscience  into  quietness,  by  mingling  with  the  temptation 
the  kind,  and  amiable,  and  natural  impulse  of  a parent’s  af- 
fection and  a parent’s  anxiety.  It  is  he,  my  brethren,  who 
pursues  this  artful  game,  and  finds  his  abundant  harvest  of 
ruined  principle  and  integrity  in  that  sweeping  tide  of  fluc- 
tuation, whieh  sets  in  at  intervals  with  such  a devouring 
a*  xy>t  only  to  overwhelm  the  rash  adventurer,  but 


320 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


to  tear  up  by  the  sinews  the  firmest  and  oldest  establish- 
ments. Ah  ! my  brethren,  it  is  in  a season  so  critical  as 
this  that  the  principle  of  a Christian  is  brought  to  its  sever- 
est trial,  and  that  the  wily  tempter  plies  him  with  the  sug- 
gestion to  take  hold  of  what  is  not  his  own,  and  on  what  he 
has  no  right  to  put  his  finger,  that  he  might  turn  it  into 
bread. 

Now,  mark  the  sentiment  wherewith  a real  and  an  alto- 
gether Christian  will  meet  the  deceitfulness  of  this  tempta- 
tion. The  elevated  language  of  his  heart  will  be,  “Though 
He  slay  me,  yet  will  I trust  in  Him.”  Though  the  terrors 
of  approaching  poverty  are  mustering  before  me  in  dark 
and  threatening  array,  yet  will  I not  be  tempted  from  my 
integrity.  My  Saviour  would  not  command  the  stone  to 
be  made  bread,  because  had  He  done  so  He  would  have 
violated  a committed  trust.  I will  not  turn  a single  frag- 
ment of  my  substance  to  the  secret  purpose  of  a provision 
for  my  family,  because,  should  I do  so,  I would  be  violating 
a commanded  duty.  Oh,  no  ! I will  meet  this  temptation 
as  my  great  Exemplar  did  before  me,  and  I will  meet  it  with 
His  own  weapon  and  His  own  sentiment — that  man  does 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  which  proceed- 
eth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God.  Oh ! what  a fine  security 
does  Christian  principle  confer,  for  all  that  is  just,  and  hon- 
orable, and  of  good  report ! How  clearly  and  command- 
ingly  does  the  line  of  duty  lie  before  the  eye  of  him  who 
has  firmly  seated  his  confidence  in  God  ! We  have  a war- 
rant to  pray  to  Him  for  daily  bread ; and  tell  me  if  ever 
the  promise  failed  of  its  accomplishment,  that  as  the  day 
came  the  provision  of  the  day  came  along  with  it?  To 
this  extent  every  Christian  is  warranted  to  trust  in  Him ; 
and  with  such  an  anchor  of  security,  all  distressing  anxie- 
ties for  the  morrow  should  be  given  to  the  winds.  This  is 
the  noble  defense  which  I call  on  one  and  all  to  set  up,  in 
that  dark  hour  of  their  visitation,  when  they  are  flounder- 
ing along  through  an  ocean  of  many  difficulties.  “ I have 
been  young,  and  now  am  old,”  says  the  psalmist,  “ and  yet 
never  have  I seen  the  children  of  the  righteous  begging 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


321 


their  bread.”  This  word  proceeded  out  of  the  mouth  of 
God ; and  be  assured,  my  brethren,  that  if  you  hold  fast 
your  integrity,  you  will  secure  for  your  children  the  inherit- 
ance of  a heavenly  Father’s  blessing,  as  well  as  of  an.  earth- 
ly father’s  unsullied  name. 

I trust,  my  brethren,  that  this  case  brings  home  to  your 
mind  the  general  principle,  that  no  difficulties  whatever 
should  tempt  you  to  put  forth  your  hand  to  a violation  of 
the  law  of  God — that  as  the  Saviour  kept  rigidly  by  His 
trust,  you  will  keep  rigidly  by  your  duty  ; and  an  un- 
shaken confidence-  in  His  word,  will,  under  every  tempta- 
tion of  unlawful  gain,  keep  you  in  steadfast  adherence  to 
His  will. 

Let  me  now  proceed  to  the  moral  lesson  that  may  be 
gathered  out  of  the  second  recorded  attempt  of  the  great 
adversary  (second  in  Matthew,  though  third  in  Luke)  of 
men  upon  the  great  Captain  of  man’s  salvation.  Why,  he 
bade  Him,  since  His  trust  in  God  was  so  great,  throw  Him- 
self from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  He  would  be  borne 
in  safety  to  the  ground.  Let  me  explain  to  you  shortly  the 
principle  on  which  our  Saviour  resisted  that  temptation. 
Whatever  the  situation  be  in  which  the  will  and  the  provi- 
dence of  God  have  placed  me,  such  is  my  confidence  in 
His  wisdom,  that  I will  not  do  an  undutiful  or  an  untrustful 
thing  to  help  myself  out  of  it ; but  though  I trust  God,  I 
will  not  tempt  God ; I will  not,  by  any  wanton  and  un- 
called-for movement  on  my  part,  put  myself  into  a situa- 
tion, in  the  false  hope  that  He  will  bear  me  up  and  defend 
me  against  all  the  danger  of  it.  I am  sure  of  His  wisdom  ; 
but  I would  not  have  man,  in  whose  behalf  it  is  my  office 
to  hold  out  an  example,  to  be  so  sure  of  his  own  wisdom  as 
to  step  out  of  his  way,  under  the  false  presumption  that 
God  will  ever  be  interfering  to  protect  him  from  the  con- 
sequences of  his  own  errors  and  his  own  temerity ; and 
accordingly,  He  repelled  the  instigation  of  His  opponent 
by  the  memorable  sentence — “ Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the 
Lord  thy  God.”  Now  is  there  any  conceivable  case,  in 
the  history  of  human  affairs,  to  which  this  passage  in  the 

p* 


322 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


example  of  our  Saviour  is  applicable  1 Is  there  any  such 
thing  as  men  being  tempted  to  throw  themselves  down 
from  the  pinnacles  on  which  they  are  standing  ? Why, 
my  brethren,  I think  there  is.  There  is  an  actual  giving 
way  to  the  second  temptation  in  ordinary  life,  and  among 
the  same  men,  too,  who  are  most  ready  to  give  way  to  the 
first  temptation.  It  were  not  difficult,  I think,  to  prove  the 
consistency  of  principle  which  runs  through  both  the  an- 
swers of  our  Saviour  to  the  two  distinct  proposals  of  His 
skillful  and  malicious  antagonist.  And  I think  it  another 
proof  of  this  consistency,  that  the  two  temptations  which 
our  Saviour  resisted  by  one  and  the  same  exercise  of  senti- 
ment, are  often  yielded  to  by  one  and  the  same  individual. 
To  take  up  my  former  illustration,  does  it  not  often  hap- 
pen, that  the  same  man  who  is  most  ready  to  give  way  to 
the  excessive  spirit  of  commercial  adventure,  is  the  least 
scrupulous  as  to  the  rights  of  his  injured  creditors  ? In 
the  act  of  turning  what  is  legally  and  equitably  theirs  to 
his  own  use,  he  is  commanding  that  to  become  bread  to  his 
family  which  he  has  no  right  to  put  a finger  upon ; and  in 
so  doing  he  is  giving  way  to  the  first  temptation.  Think 
not,  my  brethren,  oh,  think  not,  that  I pronounce  a sentence 
of  sweeping  condemnation  on  the  unfortunate  ;vbut  let  me 
ask,  if  it  does  not  sometimes  happen,  that  the  first  tempta- 
tion assails  him  only  because  the  second  has  already  been 
given  way  to — that  had  he  kept  by  the  safe  and  the  mod- 
erate line  of  his  first  operations,  he  would  have  had  all  the 
safety  of  a man  who  was  walking  upon  sure  ground  ; but 
this  would  not  satisfy  him,  and  he  threw  himself  from  the 
actual  pinnacle  of  his  standing  in  society,  and  plunged  into 
the  abyss  of  some  tempting  speculation — not  with  the  view 
of  being  brought  to  the  earth  in  safety,  it  is  true,  but  with 
the  view  of  being  wafted  by  some  gale  of  prosperity  to  a 
higher  pinnacle  of  wealth  and  of  distinction  than  he  before 
stood  upon.  You  all  know,  my  brethren,  the  difference  be- 
tween a line  that  is  less,  and  a line  that  is  more  hazardous. 
I will  not  pretend  to  draw  the  limit  between  duty  and  dis- 
obedience in  this  department  of  human  affairs — this  must 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


323 


be  left  to  your  own  experience,  and  your  own  prayers  for 
the  directing  wisdom  of  God  ; but  surely,  surely,  my  breth- 
ren, it  is  right  that  you  should  know  in  the  general,  how  a 
man  may  put  himself  out  of  the  sure  track  of  an  humble 
employment,  and  by  so  doing  may  incur  that  charge  of 
temerity  which  you  would  fasten  on  the  man  who  threw 
himself  down  from  a pinnacle — how  confidence  in  one’s 
good  fortune  may  be  carried  to  the  length  of  a blind  impet- 
uosity— how  the  glitter  of  an  ambitious  speculation  may  just 
have  the  same  effect  upon  him  as  if  the  tempter  whispered 
into  his  ear  that  he  should  throw  himself  down  from  the 
pinnacle  on  which  he  was  standing,  and  that  he  should, 
by  the  buoyancy  of  a prosperous  gale,  be  wafted  to  a pin- 
nacle of  greater  height  and  glory;  and  how,  in  giving  way 
to  this  second  temptation,  he  is  not  trusting  God,  but  he  is 
trusting  to  a picture  of  his  own  imagination,  and  tempting 
God. 

I must  not  dwell  too  long  upon  this  topic ; and  will  not 
stop  to  extract  all  the  instruction  that  may  be  gathered  out 
of  the  interesting  passage  now  before  us.  Enough  that  I 
set  your  thoughts  agoing  about  it ; and  if  I do  so,  you  will 
soon  perceive,  that  out  of  this  second  temptation  there  may 
be  gathered  a lesson  far  more  general  than  the  one  I have 
now  insisted  on,  viz.,  that  of  restraining  the  spirit  of  com- 
mercial adventure,  and  leading  you  to  be  satisfied  on  the 
safer  and  the  humbler  ground  of  your  present  operations. 
It  goes  to  establish  the  general  lesson  of  prudence,  amid 
all  the  cases  and  varieties  of  human  life.  He  is  the  prudent 
man  who  makes  his  experience  of  the  past  guide  and  en- 
lighten his  conduct  as  to  the  future.  Now,  what  is  the 
knowledge  which  his  past  experience  confers  upon  him  ? 
Why,  it  tells  him  what  is  the  ordinary  course  of  Providence 
in  such  and  such  circumstances — what  is  the  general  method 
of  God’s  administration  in  the  world  — w’hat  are  the  laws 
of  external  nature,  and  what  are  the  general  laws  of  human 
life,  and  of  the  human  mind.  Now,  I can  conceive  a man 
of  misled  and  fanatical  piety  to  say — Oh,  I have  nothing  to 
do  with  prudence,  I have  nothing  to  do  with  the  work  of 


324 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


calculating  upon  appearances,  and  upon  ordinary  courses, 
and  upon  natural  laws  and  natural  tendencies — my  con- 
fidence is  in  God.  And  thus  throwing  himself  loose  from 
all  the  restraints  which  bind  down  the  conduct  of  grave, 
and  calculating,  and  judicious  men,  he  may  expose  religion 
to  contempt,  and  himself  to  all  the  mischiefs  of  blind  and 
unadvised  temerity.  Now  look  to  the  conduct  of  the 
Saviour,  when  asked  to  throw  Himself  from  a pinnacle  of 
the  temple.  What  was  it  that  restrained  Him  from  doing 
so  ? It  was  just  His  calculation  upon  a general  law  in 
nature.  He  acted  upon  His  unfailing  experience  of  the 
descent  of  bodies  that  had  no  material  support  to  rest  upon ; 
and  to  flee  in  the  face  of  this  law,  which  the  artful  deceiver 
would  have  persuaded  Him  to  be  an  act  of  pious  confidence 
in  God,  He  felt  to  be  a tempting  of  God,  and  not  a trusting 
of  Him. 

Now,  my  brethren,  take  this  to  yourselves.  Apply  this 
lesson  to  other  laws,  and  other  of  the  ordinary  and  estab- 
lished courses  of  Providence  in  the  world.  Admit  ex- 
perience, and  your  knowledge  of  the  past,  and  your  general 
acquaintance  with  nature  and  with  human  life  into  your 
calculations  on  the  line  of  duty ; and  let  me  see  you  ex- 
emplify that  most  respectable  of  all  combinations — the  com- 
bination of  good  sense  with  a most  humble  and  earnest 
and  devoted  piety.  It  is  evident  that  this  lesson  opens  a 
fine  field  for  the  exercise  of  wisdom ; but  its  applications 
are  far  too  manifold  for  being  detailed  in  all  their  circum- 
stances and  in  all  their  variety  from  the  pulpit.  What  is 
it  that  any  of  you  are  now  hesitating  about  ? Is  it  about 
the  disposal  of  one  of  your  family  in  the  way  of  settling  him 
in  the  world  ? I trust  you  have  it  more  at  heart  that  he 
should  obtain  the  bread  which  endureth  than  that  he  should 
obtain  a large  portion  of  that  bread  which  perisheth.  Well, 
you  perhaps  think  that  this  is  your  real  feeling  and  principle 
on  the  subject ; but  have  you  brought  prudence  and  your 
experience  of  human  life  to  bear  upon  the  question — what 
would  be  the  best  situation  for  the  endurance  and  the 
growth  of  Christian  principle  within  him  ? Don’t  you 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


325 


know  what  the  general  laws  of  nature  and  of  the  human 
mind  are  in  this  matter? — that  the  general  effect  of  expo- 
sure is  to  blast  the  tender  infancy  of  that  principle  which 
you  may  have  put  into  the  youthful  bosom — that  the  general 
effect  of  evil  communication  is  to  corrupt  good  manners — 
that  in  committing  him  to  the  broad  surface  of  a world 
lying  in  wickedness,  there  are  some  situations  which  all 
experience  attests  to  be  more  adverse  to  virtue  than  others? 
And  are  you  admitting  all  this  into  your  calculation ; or, 
instead  of  a single  eye  upon  the  eternity  of  him  whose 
guardianship  God  hath  committed  to  you,  is  your  single 
eye  fixed  on  his  earthly  aggrandizement  ? — and  as  to  any 
faint  wish  you  may  feel  for  his  being  provided  on  the  other 
side  of  death  with  a house  that  is  not  made  with  hands  and 
eternal  in  the  heavens,  do  you  get  it  all  disposed  of  by 
bidding  God  bless  him,  when  the  weeping  boy  takes  his 
departure,  and  he  is  followed  to  the  door  by  the  tears  and 
wishes  of  his  family?  Ah  ! my  brethren,  if  prudence  has 
not  gone  along  with  piety,  I call  upon  you  not  to  trust  to 
its  fervent  aspirations.  This  young  man  who  is  leaving 
the  home  of  his  father,  and  his  heart  swelling  with  every 
Christian  purpose,  and  all  the  lessons  of  a mother’s  watch- 
ful and  affectionate  jealousy  fresh  in  his  bosom,  may  per- 
haps, by  the  ill-judged  choice  of  these  very  parents,  have 
been  set  on  a career  which  will  bring  him  back  to  the 
mansion  of  their  old  age,  an  alien  from  his  God,  and  a 
graceless  scorner  at  every  Christian  feeling  which  exists 
in  his  family.  He  may  be  the  object  of  your  daily  prayers, 
and  not  an  evening  devotion  may  be  lifted  up  to  heaven 
without  the  remembrance  of  him  who  is  in  a distant  land ; 
but  the  tidings  of  his  fall  may  reach  you — and  in  the  mel- 
ancholy result  of  a soul  irrecoverably  lost  in  wickedness 
and  estrangement  from  his  Maker,  you  may  at  length  be 
made  to  feel  what  a sad  error  it  was  to  tempt  God,  while 
you  thought  you  were  piously  and  affectionately  trusting 
in  Him.  This  is  one  out  of  many  applications.  The  Bible 
is  so  pregnant  with  meaning,  that  I might  linger  for  months 
on  the  wisdom  of  a single  chapter  without  exhausting  it 


326 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


Ponder  its  passages.  Be  assured  that  the  devoted  study 
of  a whole  life  will  not  carry  you  to  the  limit  of  all  that 
instruction  which  is  to  be  gathered  out  of  it.  It  may  be 
your  daily  exercise ; and  yet  every  day  some  new  and 
wondrous  thing  may  evolve  to  the  mind  which  humbly 
commits  itself  to  the  guidance  of  that  enlightening  Spirit 
who  makes  use  of  the  word  as  His  instrument.  Let  it  be 
your  exercise  on  some  portion  of  every  day ; and  let  the 
remembrance  of  it  be  your  delight  all  the  day  long ; and 
however  darkly  or  awkwardly  you  may  go  about  the  work 
of  applying  these  Scriptures  to  your  everyday  and  familiar 
concerns  at  the  first,  by  reason  of  use,  and  with  the  blessing 
of  God,  your  senses  will  be  exercised  to  discern  both  the 
good  and  the  evil. 

I trust  I may  have  said  enough  to  convince  you  of  the 
respect  that  you  owe  to  the  ordinary  course  of  nature  and 
of  Providence.  Christ  has  given  the  sanction  of  His  exam- 
ple to  this  respect  by  the  answer  wherewith  He  repelled 
the  second  instigation  of  the  tempter.  He  would  not  cast 
Himself  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  because  He 
was  aware  of  the  law  of  gravitation ; and  He  felt  that  a 
rash  presumption  on  His  part,  as  if  God  would  interpose 
to  suspend  this  law  on  His  behalf,  would  be  not  to  trust  God, 
but  to  tempt  God.  In  the  same  manner,  my  brethren, 
whatever  be  the  situation  you  are  placed  in,  the  first  and 
the  paramount  maxim  is  at  all  times,  and  in  all  circum- 
stances, and  in  defiance  of  all  hazards,  to  do  that  which  is 
your  commanded  duty ; and  I have  already  showed,  how 
our  Saviour’s  treatment  of  the  first  recorded  temptation 
could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  this  lesson.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  there  is  no  requirement  calling  upon  you  to 
make  the  exposure  of  yourself  to  those  evils  which  nature 
and  experience  point  out  to  be  the  consequences  of  such 
and  such  a line  of  proceeding — then  it  is  a tempting  of 
God  to  take  that  line ; and  therefore  it  is  that  a Christian, 
anxious  to  know  the  path  in  which  he  should  go,  will  not 
only  learn  diligently  the  will  of  God  as  put  down  in  His 
word,  lest  he  should  transgress  against  God  by  an  act  ot 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


327 


disobedience,  but  he  will  also  gather  the  indications  of 
God’s  will  concerning  him  from  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  finds  himself  placed,  and  from  the  general  effect 
of  such  circumstances,  lest  he  should  tempt  God  by  an  act 
of  presumption.  Whatever,  my  brethren,  be  the  actual 
situation  of  any  man  among  you,  you  stand  upon  safe 
ground  when  you  say,  Here  I am  by  the  will  of  God ; and 
should  any  inducement  be  held  out  for  you  to  change  your 
situation,  or  should  you  deliberate  upon  the  question,  wheth- 
er it  would  be  right  to  make  such  a change  or  to  adopt 
such  a step — then  it  is  not  merely  your  prudence,  but  your 
duty,  to  make  your  experience  of  the  past,  your  acquaint- 
ance with  the  general  course  of  things,  to  bear  upon  the 
question.  For  this  purpose  you  take  a survey  of  all  the 
circumstances,  and  you  calculate  the  effect  of  such  and 
such  measures,  and  you  frame  your  calculation  on  your 
recollections  of  the  ordinary  processes  of  nature  and  ex- 
perience. Does  what  I know  of  my  habits  make  it  advis- 
able for  me  to  change  my  present  line  of  employment,  or 
to  continue  it?  Does  what  I know  of  my  talent  for  useful- 
ness tell  me  that  it  would  be  more  productively  employed 
in  the  present  field  of  my  exertions,  or  in  another  which 
the  course  of  things  has  laid  before  me  ? Does  what  I 
know  of  the  difficulties  of  one  situation  and  the  facilities  of 
another,  enable  me  to  make  up  my  mind  on  the  question — 
whether  I ought  or  ought  not  to  decide  upon  a transference? 
These  are  questions  which  a man,  with  no  other  principle 
in  his  bosom  but  the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  men,  may 
sit  in  deliberation  over.  They  may  be  the  calculations  of 
a wise  and  reflecting  experience  ; but  this  does  not  hinder 
them  from  being  also  the  calculations  of  religious  duty.  It 
gives  a mighty  clearness  and  command  to  the  question, 
when  he  is  sitting  in  judgment  over  a conjuncture  which  he 
did  not  create  himself,  but  which  was  brought  by  the  un- 
controlled course  of  events  and  of  circumstances  to  his 
door.  If  he  is  sure  that  in  no  previous  step  of  the  affair 
he  has  tempted  God  by  any  willful  act  of  his  own,  then  the 
case  that  is  before  him  may  be  taken  up  as  a case  present- 


328 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


ed  by  God  to  his  notice ; and  he  must  have  a care,  now 
that  it  is  presented  to  him,  lest  he  tempt  God  by  deciding 
the  matter  in  opposition  to  the  light  of  experience,  or  the 
established  courses  of  nature  and  of  providence.  My  ob- 
ject in  all  this,  my  brethren,  is  to  reconcile  you  to  a lan 
guage  which  some  hold  to  be  fanatical.  You  may  have 
read  or  heard  of  people  trying  to  find  out  what  were  the 
leadings  of  providence  in  a given  case,  and  to  collect  the 
will  of  God  from  a deliberate  survey  of  the  circumstances 
by  which  they  were  surrounded.  Now,  my  brethren,  I 
maintain  that  it  is  a very  high  point  of  Christian  wisdom  to 
decide  this  question ; and  it  is  a question  upon  which  the 
most  grave,  and  diligent,  and  I will  also  say  it,  the  most 
judicious  exercises  of  thought  have  been  bestowed.  It  is 
very  true  that  it  is  a wisdom  which  the  world  knoweth  not, 
and  into  which  the  men  of  the  world  can  not  enter;  and 
when  they  hear  of  a call,  or  a leading  of  providence,  they 
conceive  the  idea  of  a direct  inspiration,  and  that  the  man 
who  professes  to  act  upon  such  a call  has  dreamed  a dream, 
or  seen  a vision,  or  heard  the  utterance  of  a voice,  or  felt 
an  impulse  upon  his  imagination  and  his  heart.  There  is 
nothing  of  all  this,  my  brethren,  in  these  matters.  The 
man  does  no  more  than  give  God  the  homage  of  being  the 
author  of  all  that  actually  is,  and  he  ascribes  his  present 
circumstances,  and  inducements,  and  prospects,  to  the  will 
of  God.  He  knows  that  it  is  his  duty  to  pray  for  wisdom, 
and  in  everything  to  make  his  requests  known  unto  God ; 
but  he  expects  no  supernatural  intimation  upon  the  subject 
— he  only  brings  all  the  wisdom  he  has  gotten  to  bear  on 
the  question  of  whether  it  will  be  most  for  usefulness  to 
take  this  one  step  or  that  other  step.  In  deliberating  on 
this  question,  so  far  from  overlooking  the  natural  and  ac- 
customed tendencies  of  things,  he  makes  them  the  ground- 
work of  his  calculation.  He  is  not  so  presumptuous  as  to 
expect  that  God  will  change  the  courses  or  suspend  the 
laws  of  nature  for  his  special  behoof,  and  so  he  feels  that 
it  would  be  as  much  tempting  God  to  act  in  opposition  to 
any  of  the  known  laws,  whether  of  matter  or  of  mind,  or 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


329 


to  any  one  of  the  established  connections  between  means 
and  their  ends — as  our  Saviour  would  have  felt  that  He 
had  been  tempting  God  had  He  been  acting  in  opposition 
to  the  known  law  of  the  descent  of  heavy  and  unsupported 
bodies.  All  this  he  deliberates  upon  lest  he  should  throw 
himself  from  the  pinnacle  of  safety ; and  thus  it  is,  my 
brethren,  that,  in  attempting  to  decide  what  are  the  lean- 
ings of  Providence,  he  who  is  derided  by  the  world  for  the 
weaknesses  of  a superstitious  fancy,  may  in  fact  have  com- 
bined all  the  judgment  and  intelligence  and  respectable 
accomplishments  of  a discerning  and  clear-sighted  man, 
with  all  the  devotedness  of  a humble  and  submissive  piety. 

Verses  5-8. — “ And  the  devil,  taking  him  up  into  an  high 
mountain,  shewed  unto  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world 
in  a moment  of  time.  And  the  devil  said  unto  him,  All  this 
power  will  I give  thee,  and  the  glory  of  them,  for  that  is 
delivered  unto  me  ; and  to  whomsoever  I will  I give  it.  If 
thou  therefore  wilt  worship  me,  all  shall  be  thine.  And 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan:  for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.”  This,  of  course,  was 
no  illusion  of  the  fancy.  We  mistake  the  matter  if  we  think 
that  our  Saviour  did  not  feel  the  force  of  these  various 
temptations.  Had  He  not  done  so,  He  would  not  have  been 
in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are.  We  do  not  under- 
stand the  nature  of  the  union  between  the  divine  and  human 
natures  of  Christ.  We  must  just  take  what  we  find  upon 
this  subject,  and  limit  our  curiosity  by  the  amount  of  that 
which  is  written.  And  this  much  is  certain,  that  He  suffer- 
ed being  tempted — He  had  all  the  pain  of  a struggle  to  un- 
dergo ; and  it  was  by  obedience  in  the  face  of  difficulty,  it 
was  by  a high  and  sustained  exercise  of  principle  in  the 
face  of  allurements — and  had  the  allurements  not  been  felt, 
there  would  have  been  no  exercise  at  all  in  the  work  of  re- 
sisting them — it  was,  I say,  by  the  force  of  dutiful  sentiment 
rising  superior  to  all  that  the  tempter  and  the  world  could 
muster  up  to  oppose  it,  that  He  earned  the  reward  of  right- 
eousness for  us,  and  obtained  a highly  exalted  name  which 


330 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


we  are  at  all  times  invited  to  make  use  of  in  our  prayers, 
and  are  told  that  if  we  do  so  they  shall  rise  to  the  Father, 
who  hath  placed  the  Son  on  His  right  hand,  with  accept- 
ance and  success.  Take  this  view  of  the  matter  then — 
that  our  Saviour  actually  felt  the  force  of  the  allurement ; 
and  I think  that  much  practical  instruction  is  to  be  gather- 
ed from  the  way  in  which  He  repelled  this  temptation  of 
the  adversary.  Does  it  appear  from  these  verses  that  He 
stopped  to  gaze  on  the  splendid  field  of  contemplation  be- 
fore Him  ? Did  He  suffer  His  thoughts  to  linger  on  the 
beauties  of  that  airy  spectacle  by  which  He  was  surround- 
ed ? Did  He  enter  into  a deliberate  process  of  calculation, 
or  hesitate  for  a moment  between  the  call  of  duty  to  God 
and  an  act  of  homage  to  God’s  presumptuous  rival,  on  the 
rendering  of  which  all  the  glory  which  dazzled  so  magnifi- 
cently around  Him  was  offered  to  gratify  and  to  reward 
Him  ? No,  my  brethren,  He  does  not  appear  to  have  ven 
tured  Himself  with  the  power  of  this  alluring  representa- 
tion for  a single  moment.  All  the  strength  of  His  hitherto 
unconquered  nature — all  the  knowledge  He  had  of  the  de- 
ceitfulness of  the  tempter — all  the  consciousness  which  one 
would  think  He  might  have  possessed  that  the  promise  of 
Satan  was  but  a mockery — all  this  did  not  embolden  Him 
to  the  measure  of  looking  for  one  minute  to  the  vision  of 
loveliness  and  of  grandeur  that  was  thrown  around  Him ; 
but  with  all  the  jealousy  of  quick  and  instantly  conceived 
alarm,  does  He  by  one  summary  act  dismiss  the  whole  of 
the  flattering  temptation  away  from  Him : Get  you  hence, 
Satan ; I cannot  entertain  your  proposal  for  a single  mo- 
ment ; and  with  a quotation  from  Scripture,  the  very  meas- 
sure  by  which  He  repelled  every  former  assault,  does  He 
tell  Him  that  He  must  worship  the  Lord  His  God,  and  Him 
only  He  must  serve. 

This  part  of  the  example  of  our  Saviour  gives  a mighty 
reinforcement  to  a prudential  lesson  often  set  forth  in  Scrip- 
ture respecting  the  management  of  temptations.  If  He 
would  not  trifle  or  delay  or  make  any  parrying  with  tempt- 
ation, how  much  more  incumbent  is  it  upon  us  to  be  prompt 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


331 


and  decisive  in  our  measures -with  it?  If  even  the  mighty 
Captain  of  our  salvation  would  not  trust  Himself  with  the 
indulgence  of  that  superb  spectacle  that  was  so  much  fitted 
to  regale  the  imagination,  how  much  more  ought  we  to 
dismiss  from  our  hearts  the  countless  vanities  that  are  ever 
obtruding  themselves  and  offering  to  take  possession  of  the 
inner  man  ? Let  us  suit  our  proceedings  to  the  mediocrity 
of  our  powers.  Let  us  conceive  quick  and  sudden  and  de- 
cisive alarm  at  every  approach  of  every  temptation.  Be  as- 
sured my  friends,  that  it  is  far  safer  to  dismiss  than  to  tarry 
with  it.  Entertain  not  the  deceitful  suggestion  for  a single 
moment ; but  recovering  the  mind  to  the  tone  of  principle, 
by  an  instantaneous  reference  to  the  will  of  God,  and  the 
obligations  that  you  owe  Him,  dismiss  every  evil  instiga- 
tion by  the  sentiment  that  thou  must  worship  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  Him  only  thou  must  serve.  If  this  were  the  habit 
of  the  mind,  what  a mighty  safeguard  against  temptations 
you  would  carry  about  with  you  in  a world  that  is  full  of 
them.  Your  tempter  does  not  appear  to  you  in  a personal 
form  ; but  his  agency  on  your  hearts  is  not  the  less  real  on 
that  account — nor  is  the  answer  less  applicable  from  your 
mouth  than  it  was  from  the  mouth  of  the  Saviour,  Get  thee 
hence,  Satan.  Rebuke  the  evil  suggestion  away  from  you. 
Let  the  mind,  by  the  summary  act  of  that  authority  which 
belongs  to  it,  dismiss  from  its  inner  chambers  every  tempt- 
ing thought,  every  rising  inclination  to  sin ; and  while  you 
are  called  upon  to  keep  your  eyes  with  all  diligence  from 
viewing  vanity,  I also  call  upon  you  to  keep  your  hearts 
with  all  diligence  from  dwelling  upon  vanity.  I do  not 
know  a single  practical  direction  that  you  would  find  of 
more  use  for  keeping  you  from  what  is  evil ; and  we  are 
told  that  we  should  cease  to  do  evil,  ere  we  can  learn  to  do 
well.  I know  not  a more  efficient  lesson  for  carrying  along 
with  you  from  the  very  commencement  of  the  good  work 
of  sanctification,  and  for  supporting  you  through  the  whole 
of  its  subsequent  stages.  Do,  my  brethren,  act  upon  it 
from  this  moment.  Think  of  the  quick  and  instantaneous 
movement  by  which  our  Saviour  put  the  whole  of  that 


332 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


bright  and  glittering  illusion ‘away  from  Him,  which  form- 
ed the  grand  conclusive  attempt  of  the  adversary  to  seduce 
Him  from  His  principles.  Go,  and  do  likewise.  Keep  no 
measures  with  temptation.  Your  safety  lies  in  shunning, 
and  in  shutting  it  out,  and  in  dismissing  it  from  your  thoughts. 
When  any  gay  or  flattering  imagination  gets  hold  of  you — 
be  it  wealth,  to  seduce  you  from  your  integrity,  or  to  with- 
draw you  from  the  present  path  of  your  humble  and  sober- 
minded,  but  safe  and  cautious  employments,  to  some  track 
of  ruinous  ambition — or  be  it  pleasure,  to  steal  your  heart 
to  some  object  of  idolatrous  affection — or  be  it  fashion,  to 
tempt  you  to  some  act  of  unlawful  conformity  to  a world 
lying  in  wickedness — think,  my  brethren,  of  your  calling — 
you  are  the  servants  of  the  Lord  ; and  be  ever  ready  to 
dismiss  the  evil  suggestion  with  the  answer — I must  wor- 
ship the  Lord  my  God,  and  Him  only  I must  serve. 

Thus  much  for  temptation  in  the  general.  But  let  me 
say  a few  words  on  the  particular  temptation  that  is  here 
recorded.  One  might  think  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
a parallel  to  this  temptation  in  the  familiar  and  every-day 
history  of  men — that  for  this  purpose  it  would  be  necessary 
to  go  to  him  who  stands  on  the  very  pinnacle  of  human 
society — to  the  single  man  of  the  world,  before  whom  lieth 
the  avenue  which  promises  to  conduct  him  by  some  strides 
of  mighty  and  unprincipled  violence  to  universal  monarchy. 
Such  a man  there  lately  was,  who  aspired  after  all  the 
glory  of  all  the  kingdoms  upon  earth  ; and  in  the  track  of 
his  guilty  ambition  many,  and  very  many,  were  the  acts  of 
homage  which  he  rendered  to  the  god  of  this  world.  In 
the  history  of  this  man,  we  see  at  once  the  power  of  Satan’s 
temptations  and  the  treachery  of  his  promises ; but  we 
mistake  it  if  we  think  that  the  passage  of  our  Saviour’s 
history  which  is  now  before  us  does  not  admit  of  a wider 
application.  The  enlightened  Discerner  of  the  human  heart 
will  perceive  the  identity  of  its  passions  under  all  the 
variety  of  rank  and  of  circumstances.  To  regale  the  ap- 
petite for  distinction,  it  is  not  necessary  that  man  should 
aspire  above  the  level  of  this  widely  extended  world  : it  is 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


333 


enough  that  he  gain  an  eminence  above  the  level  that  is 
immediately  around  him.  His  own  confined  neighborhood 
may  be  all  that  he  knows,  and  to  him  it  is  just  as  animating 
a field  of  ambition  as  the  world  is  to  the  mighty  conqueror  ; 
and  therefore,  in  the  very  humblest  walks  of  society  we 
may  behold  the  busy  working  of  the  same  pride,  and  the 
same  passion,  and  the  same  keen  and  interested  rivalship, 
and  the  same  ardent  struggle  for  superiority,  that  we  read 
of  in  the  higher  game  of  victory  and  of  empire.  And  thus 
it  is  that  the  temptation  of  glory  may  be  carried  down  to 
the  very  basis  of  society.  Men  measure  themselves  by 
themselves,  and  compare  themselves  with  themselves  ; and 
thus  it  is  that  when  walking  the  streets,  we  may  behold 
the  gait  and  bearing  of  conscious  elevation  among  the  most 
tattered  of  our  laborers,  as  well  as  among  the  wealthiest 
of  our  citizens — for  pride  may  dwell  in  a cottage  as  well 
as  in  a palace.  It  sits  on  the  workman’s  bench  as  well  as 
on  the  monarch’s  throne,  and  struts  driving  a flock  of  sheep 
as  well  as  at  the  head  of  a victorious  army. 

But  in  all  these  cases,  the  glory  we  aspire  after  is  a 
glory  we  seek  from  one  another.  It  is  the  notice,  and  the 
homage,  and  the  admiration  of  men.  It  is  not  the  glory 
that  cometh  from  God  only ; but  in  giving  way  to  it,  we 
make  an  idolatrous  defection  from  the  great  God  of  heaven 
and  of  earth  ; and  to  make  good  this  defection,  the  god  of 
this  world  plies  all  his  artifices,  and  brings  the  flattering 
prospect  of  distinction  to  play  upon  our  fancy,  and  arrays 
the  perishable  splendors  of  earth  with  a charm  and  a sta- 
bility which  do  not  belong  to  them ; and  throws  into  the 
far  and  distant  back-ground  of  our  contemplations  the  cer- 
tainty of  that  death  which,  in  a few  short  years,  will  blow 
to  pieces  the  whole  of  his  glittering  infatuation,  and  the 
loathsomeness  of  that  grave  of  which  one  and  all  of  us  must 
be  the  dumb  and  the  moldering  occupiers.  Oh  i how  many 
resign  themselves  to  his  flattering  illusions,  and  crowd  the 
broad  way  in  pursuit  of  them  ! And,  keenly  driven  along 
by  some  airy  specter,  the  sight  of  which  inflames  their 
ambition,  there  is  no  room  in  the  hearts  but  for  the  employ- 


334 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


ment  of  following  after  it;  and  the  will  of  God,  and  the 
service  of  God,  and  the  worship  of  God,  are  all  trampled 
upon  and  renounced  in  the  daily  and  hourly  incense  which 
they  offer  to  some  cheating  idol  of  this  world.  Money, 
which  purchaseth  all  things,  purchaseth  distinction  also; 
and  this  forms  the  most  frequent  and  powerful  instrument 
by  which  the  great  adversary  seduces  his  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  from  their  loyalty  to  the  God  of  heaven. 
With  this  he  bribes  the  vanity  of  the  young  in  the  shape  of 
costly  and  glittering  ornaments  — and  who  can  tell  how 
many  have  been  betrayed  by  the  power  of  this  temptation 
into  the  surrender  of  that  most  graceful  of  all  ornaments — 
that  unsullied  purity  which  when  cruelly  pressed  and  pre- 
vailed upon  has  often  turned  her  who  was  at  one  time  the 
pride  and  the  promise  of  a parent’s  old  age  into  a shame 
and  a bitterness  which  have  brought  down  his  gray  hairs 
with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  With  this  he  has  turned  the 
commercial  world  into  one  vortex  of  driving  and  impetuous 
rivalship ; and  though  it  be  well  that  each  should  put  forth 
the  might  of  his  hand  to  the  bidden  duty  of  providing  for 
the  things  of  his  own  house,  yet  it  is  not  well  if,  in  the  pur- 
suit of  a keen  and  straining  ambition,  simplicity  and  godly 
sincerity  have  been  banished  from  the  transactions  of  busi- 
ness— it  is  not  well  if  the  seducing  object  of  a commanding 
fortune  and  a princely  retirement,  which  lies  in  the  vista  of 
futurity  before  him,  shall  tempt  him  to  a life  of  perpetual 
homage  to  the  glory  and  good  of  this  world — it  is  not  well 
if  the  prospect  of  some  earthly  eminence,  from  which  the 
hand  of  death  will  so  soon  pull  him  down,  shall  be  spread 
before  him  with  all  the  gay  coloring  of  a painted  screen,  to 
hide  from  his  view  the  unfading  glories  of  eternity.  And 
surely,  surely,  my  brethren,  if  glosses  and  plausibilities  and 
dexterous  concealments  of  the  truth  to  secure  the  advant- 
age in  a present  bargain,  or  give  a favorable  turn  to  the 
present  negotiation — if  there  be  any  of  you,  my  friends 
(and  I pray  there  may  be  none),  who  have  so  far  fallen 
from  the  lofty  principles  of  a pure  and  unbending  integrity 
as  to  think  that  all  these  may  be  looked  upon  with  levity 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


335 


and  connivance,  and  that  the  communications  of  yea,  yea, 
and  nay,  nay,  when  heard  in  the  market-place  are  to  be 
laughed  at  as  the  oddities  of  Quakerism — why,  my  brethren, 
in  this  case  I must  say  that  you  are  not  walking  as  stran- 
gers and  pilgrims  upon  the  earth — that  you  have  got  among 
the  wiles  and  entanglements  of  him  who  is  the  arch-enemy 
of  human  souls,  by  whose  fascinations  it  is  that  you  are  as 
effectually  surrounded  by  the  mockery  of  an  ideal  repre- 
sentation, as  the  mind  of  our  Saviour  when  the  panorama 
of  a brilliant  and  alluring  world  was  spread  before  his  con- 
templation : and  you,  in  pursuit  of  some  airy  castle  which 
you  may  never  reach,  and  which  at  all  events  you  must 
soon  abandon  for  the  coldness  and  corruption  of  the  sepul- 
cher, are  doing  homage  to  the  father  of  lies,  and  strewing 
the  altar  of  his  idolatry  with  those  offerings  of  the  ruined 
soul  and  its  undone  eternity,  which  he  exacts  from  his 
worshipers. 

I cannot  bring  my  observations  on  this  wonderful  pas- 
sage of  the  Bible  to  a close  without  remarking  that  one 
harmonious  lesson  may  be  gathered  out  of  the  three  tempt- 
ations by  which  our  Saviour  was  assailed.  The  first  is, 
that  no  prospect  however  terrifying,  no  pain  however 
urgent,  no  suffering  however  intense,  shall  tempt  me  to  do 
that  which  is  undutiful  and  against  the  will  of  God,  for  the 
purpose  of  escaping  the  evils  of  that  situation  in  which  I 
actually  find  myself.  Duty  must  be  done  at  all  hazards — 
the  law  of  God  must  be  acted  upon  at  every  venture — I 
must  not,  by  any  deed  of  mine,  try  to  help  myself  out  of 
any  distress  by  the  violation  of  any  of  the  commandments  ; 
and  under  every  temptation,  the  most  pressing  that  can  be 
conceived,  it  is  my  part  to  obey  God  though  He  should 
multiply  upon  me  the  severest  dispensations,  and  to  trust 
Him  though  He  should  slay  me.  Conceive  a man,  then,  in 
a given  line  of  employment,  and  under  temptations  to  take 
the  advantage  which  others  take,  and  to  alleviate  the  diffi- 
culties of  his  situation  by  resorting  to  the  same  habits  and 
practices  of  dishonesty  which  are  frequent  among  others ; 
and,  if  acting  on  the  moral  to  be  drawn  from  the  first  of 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


33fi 

the  three  temptations,  he  will  struggle  with  every  hardship 
rather  than  surrender  one  iota  of  his  integrity  to  soften 
them,  and  putting  his  confidence  in  God,  will  say,  that  man 
liveth  not  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  which  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  His  mouth.  But  you  will  say,  though  he 
should  do  no  dishonest  thing  to  make  his  present  situation 
a comfortable  and  productive  one,  might  not  he  change 
that  situation — might  not  he  give  up  the  present,  with  all 
its  certain  evils,  for  another  which,  for  anything  he  knows, 
might  be  free  from  the  hardships  that  are  now  pressing 
upon  him  ? Might  not  he  speculate,  and  experiment,  and 
venture  on  some  bold  and  decisive  steps  to  have  himself 
extricated  from  his  present  degree  of  poverty  or  inconveni- 
ence or  suffering  ? Now,  if  he  act  on  the  moral  that  is  to 
be  gathered  out  of  the  second  temptation,  he  will  make  this 
a question  of  prudence — he  will  no  more  commit  himself  to 
uncertainty  in  the  face  of  known  principle,  of  experience, 
than  our  Saviour  committed  Himself  to  the  air  in  the  face 
of  the  known  law  of  gravity — he  will  mingle  the  caution 
of  wisdom  and  of  observation  with  all  his  deliberations 
upon  this  subject ; nor  by  calculating  upon  any  wanton  or 
hazardous  enterprise,  will  he  offer  to  tempt  the  Lord  his 
God.  Now,  graft  upon  these  two  morals  the  one  that  is  to 
be  gathered  from  the  third  and  last  temptation,  and  you 
will  moderate  to  nothing  a man’s  ambition  about  a place  of 
eminence  and  distinction  in  society.  It  is  very  true  that 
on  him  may  be  performed,  or  on  him  there  may  not  be 
performed,  the  truth  of  the  saying — that  the  hand  of  the 
diligent  maketh  rich ; but  riches  are  not  what  his  heart  is 
set  upon.  He  looks  to  another  home, 'and  his  eye  is  filled 
with  the  splendors  of  another  inheritance.  He  acts  on  the 
great  though  simple  prospect  of  eternity  ; and  on  the  whole 
you  behold  a man  giving  himself  to  the  faithful  and  diligent 
and  high-principled  discharge  of  all  the  duties  which  belong 
to  the  line  that  Providence  has  assigned  to  him,  and  making 
no  rash  or  unadvised  attempts  to  change  it.  His  heart  is 
free  from  that  ambition  after  the  glories  or  the  distinctions 
of  this  world  which  pierceth  man  through  with  many  sor* 


THE  TEMPTATION. 


337 


rows,  and  has  blasted  many  a precious  influence  of  the 
word  of  God,  by  the  cares  of  life  on  the  one  hand,  or  the 
deceitfulness  of  riches  on  the  other.  Such,  my  brethren,  I 
conceive  to  be  the  clear  line  of  duty  that  lies  on  every 
individual,  and  I leave  it  to  you  to  conceive  what  a Chris- 
tian and  good  and  orderly  aspect  it  would  throw  over  the 
face  of  the  country,  were  this  to  become  the  practical  and 
the  universal  moral  of  all  its  people — were  the  unbridled 
rage  of  commercial  enterprise  to  be  tempered  by  the  lessons 
of  this  passage.  We  would  see  less  of  goading  ambition 
for  a high  eminence  of  wealth  among  the  citizens,  and  less 
of  that  blind  and  impetuous  and  miscalculating  confidence 
which  tempts  so  many  to  acts  of  desperation,  and  less  of 
that  relaxation  of  principle  and  virtue  that  leads  to  so  many 
a splendid  and  guilty,  and  at  length  shipwrecked  enterprise, 
signalized  by  the  ruin  of  many  families,  while  another 
phoenix  with  gay  and  golden  plumage  rises  from  the  ashes 
of  the  devouring  conflagration. 

VOL.  vi. — P 


SERMON  XXII. 

[Preached  in  the  Calton,  Glasgow,  15th  February,  1815.] 

II.  CORINTHIANS  V.  20. 

**  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us : we  praj 
you  in  Christ’s  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.” 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  following  discourse,  I shall  firs* 
consider  the  entreaty  of  the  text — “ Be  ye  reconciled  unto 
God,  as  addressed  to  you  by  the  beseeching  voice  of  a fellow- 
mortal  ; and  in  the  second  place,  I shall  consider  the  war- 
rant given  to  him  by  God  to  address  you  in  this  manner — 
and  in  virtue  of  which  warrant  it  is  not  only  he  who 
beseeches  you,  but  God,  or  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  who 
beseeches  you  by  him, — “ As  though  God  did  beseech  you 
by  us  : we  pray  you  in  Christ’s  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  unto 
God.” 

Let  me,  then,  in  the  first  place,  consider  this  entreaty  of 
the  text  as  coming  upon  you  through  the  beseeching  voice 
of  a fellow-mortal.  It  came  in  this  shape  from  the  mouth 
of  Paul  to  the  people  whom  he  addressed  in  this  epistle. 
It  comes  in  this  shape  from  the  mouth  of  a Christian  parent 
to  those  children  for  whose  eternal  salvation  he  is  bound  to 
labor,  and  to  put  forth  his  every  power  of  earnest  and 
affectionate  exhortation.  It  comes  in  this  shape  from  one 
friend  to  another,  in  that  highest  exercise  of  friendship, 
when  man  presses  upon  his  fellow  the  care  of  his  eternity. 
And  it  comes  in  this  shape  at  the  moment  in  which  I am 
now  addressing  you,  when,  knowing  as  I do  that  there  is 
an  offer  within  the  reach  *of  one  and  all  of  you,  the  neglect 
of  which  will  sink  you  into  endless  and  unutterable  w’O, 
and  the  acceptance  of  which  will  invest  you  with  all  the 
splendors  and  all  the  ever-during  felicities  of  Paradise — I 
urge  it  upon  your  consideration  in  all  its  magnitude  and  ir 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


339 


all  its  seriousness.  I call  upon  you  to  come  out  from  the 
wretched  alienation  of  nature — to  give  up  your  enmity 
against  that  Being  who  has  your  fate  and  your  fortune  in 
His  hand,  the  word  of  whose  power  can  crush  you  into 
annihilation,  or  transfer  you  to  that  awful  region  where 
each  unrepentant  sinner  shall  take  up  his  bed  in  hell,  and  a 
blackening  despair  spreads  itself  over  the  whole  multitude 
of  the  damned,  because  that  each  and  all  of  them  know  tfaat 
a whole  eternity  of  vengeance  is  in  store  for  them.  Ah  ! 
my  brethren,  knowing,  as  every  true  minister  of  the  gospel 
does,  that  all  who  refuse  the  overtures  of  the  gospel  are 
speeding  their  certain  way  to  this  scene  of  gloomy  and 
interminable  suffering ; and  knowing  farther,  that  all  of 
them  have  pardon  within  the  reach  of  their  offer,  and  re- 
pentance within  the  reach  of  their  call,  and  the  Spirit  to 
strengthen  them  for  the  work  of  repentance  within  the 
rea£h  of  their  prayers,  and  eternal  life  as  the  gift  of  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  within  the  reach  of  their 
acceptance — how  is  it  possible  in  these  circumstances, 
unless  he  had  a heart  cruel  as  death  and  hard  as  the  nether 
millstone,  how  is  it  possible  that  he  can  refrain  from  pour- 
ing all  the  tenderness  of  his  sympathy  upon  them,  from 
knocking  at  the  door  of  every  bosom,  and  praying  them  to 
mind  the  things  which  belong  to  their  peace  ? and  should 
he  have  already  set  before  them  the  terrors  of  the  law,  how 
can  he  refrain  from  telling  them  that  these  terrors  are  only 
in  reserve  then  for  those  of  them  who  refuse  His  kindness 
now — that  their  full  terror  and  severity  are  to  be  discharged 
in  the  other  world  only  on  those  of  them  who  in  this  world 
turn  from  the  tenderness  of  his  entreating  voice  ; but  that 
the  time  in  which  he  is  now  standing  among  them  is  the 
accepted  time,  that  the  day  on  which  he  is  now  preaching 
to  them  is  a day  of  salvation  ? It  is  thus  impossible  that 
any  minister  who  feels  as  he  ought  can  abstain  from  doing 
among  his  hearers  what  Paul  did  before  him,  from  beseech- 
ing them  even  in  his  own  name,  and  with  the  anxiety  that 
he  feels  for  them  in  his  own  heart,  to  be  reconciled  unto 
God. 


340  THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 

But,  my  brethren,  there  is  no  need  of  any  reconciliation 
among  two  parties  if  there  is  no  quarrel  between  them  ; 
and  you  may  perhaps  ask — what  is  the  quarrel  between 
you  and  God  ? Who  is  it  among  you,  I would  ask  in 
return,  that  puts  this  question?  Is  it  possible  that  the  thief 
can  put  this  question  in  the  face  of  a commandment  so 
pointed  and  so  intelligible  as  this — Thou  shalt  not  steal  ? 
Is  it  possible  that  the  swearer  can  put  this  question  in  the 
fafce  of  a threat  so  plain  and  so  appalling  as  this — The  Lord 
will  not  hold  him  guiltless  who  taketh  His  name  in  vain? 
Is  it  possible  that  the  Sabbath-breaker  can  put  such  a 
question  as  implies  him  not  to  be  conscious  of  any  quarrel 
that  God  can  possibly  have  with  him,  in  the  face  of  the 
commandment  uttered  in  thunder  from  Mount  Sinai — Thou 
shalt  sanctify  the  Sabbath-day,  and  keep  it  holy?  Is  it 
possible  that  the  liar  can  put  such  a question  in  the  face  of 
that  solemn  charge  delivered  by  God  Himself  against  ATlse 
witness?  Is  it  possible  that  the  drunkard  or  unclean  person 
can  put  such  a question  when,  in  the  book  of  Revelation,  it 
is  expressly  said  that  all  such  shall  have  their  part  in  the 
lake  which  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone?  And  once 
for  all,  how  is  it  possible  that  each  or  any  of  these  can  ever 
take  it  into  their  heads  that  God  has  no  quarrel  with  them 
in  the  face  of  the  testimony  handed  down  to  us  by  the  holy 
apostle  about  the  works  of  the  flesh — a testimony  delivered 
in  language  too  plain  to  be  put  away,  when  he  says  of 
adultery,  and  fornication,  and  uncleanness,  and  lascivious- 
ness, and  hatred,  and  strife,  and  drunkenness,  and  revel- 
lings,  and  such  like,  that  they  which  do  such  things  shall 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  ? I cannot  conceive,  then, 
that  a man  guilty  of  any  one  of  these  things  should  have 
any  doubt  of  God  having  a quarrel  with  him — should  have 
any  doubt  of  its  bging  necessary,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
friendship  of  God,  that  this  quarrel  be  made  up  by  an  act 
of  reconciliation — should  have  any  doubt  that  some  great 
movement  must  be  made  by  him  in  the  matters  of  religion 
ere  he  die ; — and  that  unless  the  offer  of  the  gospel  be 
taken  by  him — and  no  man  does  take  this  offer  who  does 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


341 


not  forsake  his  sins  and  betake  himself  to  a thorough  course 
of  repentance  and  new  obedience — I say,  I do  not  feel  that 
I stand  under  any  necessity  of  convincing  these  that  there 
is  at  this  moment  a breach  between  them  and  God.  I am 
sure  that  if  they  are  not  seared  as  with  a red-hot  iron,  they, 
will  not  leave  off  the  consideration  of  what  I am  now 
urging  without  their  consciences  rising  upon  them  and 
charging  them  with  their  enmity  against  God  ; and  up- 
braiding them  with  their  acts  of  wickedness  in  the  past 
time  of  their  lives ; and  whispering  to  them  on  the  bed  of 
restlessness  where  they  lie,  that  if  they  follow  not  the  call 
of  reconciliation  which  has  been  sounded  in  their  ears,  they 
are  treasuring  up  to  themselves  a more  furious  wrath  and 
a heavier  condemnation.  Yes  ! and  let  this  conscience  make 
them  as  uneasy  as  it  may,  it  is  but  the  foretaste  of  that  com- 
ing hell  where  there  is  a fire  that  is  never  quenched,  and  the 
corrosion  of  a tormenting  worm  that  never  dies. 

But,  my  brethren,  the  men  whom  I am  most  desirous  of 
convincing  at  present  that  there  is  a real  quarrel  between 
them  and  God,  and  a real  necessity  for  an  act  of  reconcili- 
ation to  make  the  quarrel  up,  are  those  who  can  say  with 
the  young  man  in  the  gospel — My  conscience  does  not  up- 
braid me  with  any  of  these  offenses : I am  not  a drunkard, 
I am  not  a thief,  I am  not  a frequenter  of  any  of  the  haunts 
of  profligacy ; I attend  ordinances,  and  there  is  a decency 
that  spreads  itself  over  the  whole  of  my  Sabbath  history ; I 
give  what  I can  afford  to  my  poorer  brethren,  and  I am 
neither  an  extortioner  nor  an  adulterer,  even  as  some  others 
who  are  standing  beside  me,  and  on  whom  let  the  charge 
of  the  minister  light — for  to  them,  and  not  to  me,  does  it 
apply.  Now,  what  I maintain — and  I am  anxious  to  make 
you  all  understand  it — is,  that  there  is  not  a human  being 
on  the  face  of  the  earth — there  is  not  a single  individual  of 
all  its  families — there  is  not  one  solitary  descendant  among 
the  generations  of  the  fallen  Adam,  who,  if  he  have  not 
obeyed  the  call  of  my  text,  is  not  at  this  moment  at  open 
war  with  the  God  who  created  him.  Your  conscience  may 
not  upbraid  you  with  any  of  the  visible  transgressions  which 


342 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


I have  now  enumerated  in  your  hearing.  A sense  of  de- 
cency may  keep  you  from  them — the  natural  feeling  of  what 
is  becoming  and  upright  may  keep  you  from  them — the  fear 
of  disgrace,  or  a constitutional  delicacy  of  sentiment,  may 
keep  you  from  them  : but  still  the  quarrel  remains  with  God 
— if  it  is  not  love  to  Him,  and  a principle  of  submission  to 
His  law,  and  such  a sense  of  His  authority  as  reaches  to 
the  very  thoughts  and  desires  and  affections  of  the  inner 
man,  that  keep  you  from  them.  You,  my  brethren,  if  you 
are  not  in  Christ — if  you  have  never  known  what  it  is  to  be 
reconciled  to  God  through  Him — if  you  are  strangers  to 
His  atonement,  and  to  the  influences  of  His  promised  grace, 
— the  distinct  charge  I bring  against  one  and  all  of  you — 
let  one  man  be  more  decent  than  his  neighbor,  and  more 
sober  than  his  neighbor,  and  more  honest  than  his  neighbor 
as  he  may — the  distinct  charge  I have  to  make,  and  I refer 
to  your  own  consciences  whether  the  charge  be  a true  one 
or  not*  is,  that  you  want  this  love  to  God — you  do  not  pos- 
sess this  principle  of  submission  to  His  law  in  all  things — 
you  have  not  by  nature  such  a sense  of  His  authority  as 
reaches  the  thoughts  and  desires  and  affections  of  the  inner 
man.  In  many  outward  things  you  may  be  better  than 
your  neighbors,  and  your  conduct  be  free  from  those  dis- 
graceful outbreakings  which  give  to  men  the  character 
of  being  the  lowest  and  the  most  profligate  in  society ; 
but  I lay  it  to  your  consciences,  that  though  such  polluted 
streams  as  those  do  not  come  out  of  your  hearts,  it  is  only 
because  the  channels  through  which  they  would  run  are 
dammed  up  by  other  restraints  than  by  love  to  God  and  a 
regard  to  the  honor  of  the  Lawgiver.  In  spite  of  all  these 
restraints,  the  fountain  is  polluted — the  heart  is  evil — you 
have  no  taste  for  God — you,  every  hour  of  the  day,  forget 
God,  and  prove  how  little  you  care  for  Him.  You  care  for 
other  things  more  than  you  care  for  Him.  What  these 
other  things  are  will  differ  among  different  individuals — ■ 
just  as  idolaters  sometimes  worship  one  idol  and  sometimes 
another.  What  the  idol  is  which  steals  your  affections 
from  your  lawful  Master,  I know  not : it  may  be  the  de- 


I 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION.  343 

ceitful  wiles  of  this  world  among  capitalists  and  thriving 
tradesmen ; it  may  be  the  love  of  distinction  among  those 
of  most  strength  and  most  fame  and  most  talent  among  you ; 
it  may  be  the  vanity  of  a fine  appearance  among  men- 
servants  ; it  may  be  the  vanity  of  dress  among  maid-serv- 
ants ; — what  the  precise  thing  is  I know  not ; but  whatever 
it  is,  there  are  thousands  against  whose  characters  the  world 
can  allege  nothing,  but  who  suffer  some  idol,  some  vanity, 
some  earthly  and  perishable  object,  to  take  away  their  affec- 
tions from  God.  Whatever  the  thing  be,  their  heart  is  with 
that  thing,  and  not  with  God.  God,  who  says,  Give  me  thy 
heart,  is  robbed  of  His  dues.  He  sees  His  children  alto- 
gether taken  up  with  His  gifts,  and  altogether  thinking  not 
and  caring  not  about  the  Giver.  Their  affections  are  after 
another  object  than  God — their  desire  is  towards  another 
house  than  that  place  where  His  honor  dwelleth.  Give 
them  all  they  wish  for  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  and  the 
other  side  of  the  grave — to  which,  whether  they  will  or 
not,  they  are  so  fast  hastening — takes  up  scarce  any  of 
their  attention  at  all,  and  they  are  never  easier  than  when 
they  are  never  thinking  of  it.  This,  my  brethren,  is  the 
description  of  the  great  bulk  and  majority  of  this  world’s 
population.  I am  not  saying  that  they  are  all  notorious, 
and  profligate,  and  disreputable  characters ; but  I am  say- 
ing that  they  are  forgetters  of  God ; and  just  as  if  He  had 
no  existence  at  all,  do  they  walk  after  the  counsel  of  their 
own  hearts,  and  in  the  sight  of  their  own  eyes. 

Now,  my  brethren,  do  you  call  this  a trifle  ? Did  you 
never  think  there  was  anything  so  very  bad  and  so  very 
enormous  in  all  this  ? I am  sure  you  would  think  and  feel 
it  to  be  no  trifle  at  all,  did  you  just  get  the  same  treatment 
from  another  that  you  give  to  the  God  who  formed  you. 
Did  any  of  you  feed  a neighbor,  and  clothe  him,  and  give 
him  every  one  article  of  maintenance ; and  after  all  you 
had  done  for  him,  did  you  come  to  the  knowledge  that  this 
said  neighbor — quite  happy  in  eating  your  bread,  and  in 
wearing  your  raiment,  and  in  making  use  of  all  the  com- 
forts and  necessaries  you  bestowed  upon  him — di'd  not,  at 


344 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


the  same  time,  carry  in  his  heart  the  slightest  regard  to 
you  the  giver  of  all  this.  Did  you  come  to  know,  that,  so 
far  from  this,  he  made  no  scruple  of  just  doing  what  he 
liked  best  himself,  and  asked  not  and  cared  not  what  it  was 
that  you  would  like  him  to  do.  Did  you  come  to  know 
that  he  could  not  bear  the  thoughts  of  you,  and  was  never 
in  greater  ease  of  mind  than  when  he  drove  you  out  of  his 
recollections  altogether. — Why,  you  would  think  this  hard 
treatment  indeed,  from  the  man  who  lived  because  you 
furnished  him  with  all  the  means  of  living,  who  was  kept 
up  in  a decent  appearance  among  his  neighbors  because 
you  supplied  him  with  all  that  he  stood  in  need  of,  who 
got  from  you  the  food  that  sustained  him,  and  the  clothing 
that  covered  him,  and  the  fuel  that  warmed  him,  and  the 
house  that  lodged  him.  Well,  then,  just  give  the  same  fair 
dealing  to  God.  Is  it  not  hard,  and  exceeding  hard — will 
it  not  appear  a foul  and  unnatural  crime  in  the  high  records 
of  heaven — will  the  pure  eye  of  angels  who  love  God,  and 
delight  to  serve  Him,  not  see  it  to  be  a great  and  a crying 
deformity  in  every  one  of  your  characters,  that  God  should 
give  you  every  breath,  should  minister  to  you  every  com- 
fort, should  hold  you  in  life,  and  in  all  that  is  necessary  to 
life,  and  that  you  all  the  while,  with  your  forms  of  prayer, 
and  your  decency  of  ordinances,  and  your  being  as  good 
or  better  than  your  neighbors,  and  some  few  such  points 
and  accomplishments  of  character  as  these,  should  at  the 
same  time  give  God  no  place  in  your  hearts,  and  have  all 
your  affections  turned  in  dislike,  or  at  least  in  indifference, 
away  from  Him  ? 

I can  assure  you  my  brethren,  that  whatever  you  may 
think  of  this,  God  Himself  thinks  it  no  trifle  to  be  treated 
in  this  manner.  He  claims  your  love,  He  requires  it — He 
says  that  forgetfulness  of  Him  is  one  of  the  most  hell- 
deserving  crimes  in  the  awful  catalogue  of  human  guilt — 
He  expressly  says,  in  the  book  of  Psalms,  that  the  nations 
who  forget  Him  shall  be  turned  into  hell ; and  He  bids  you 
consider,  ye  who  forget  God,  lest  He  tear  you  in  pieces, 
and  there  be  none  to  deliver.  This  is  the  quarrel,  my 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


345 


brethren,  between  God  and  man  ; and  there  is  not  t single 
individual  of  the  species,  who,  if  he  remain  what  nature 
made  him,  is  not  included  in  it.  “ There  is  none  that  un- 
derstandeth ; there  is  none  that  seeketh  after  God.”  This 
is  the  mighty  burden  of  the  controversy  He  has  with  you — 
this  is  the  breach  between  Him  and  the  sinful  creatures 
He  has  formed — this  the  awful  gulf  of  separation  that  cuts 
off  every  one  of  us  from  the  Father  of  our  spirits  ; and  to 
you  whom  I am  now  addressing,  to  every  one  of  you  who 
are  still  strangers  to  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  and  have  not 
sought,  and  have  not  found,  all  your  peace  with  the  Law- 
giver, through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord — I say  that  to  you 
there  is  a most  pressing  need  of  reconciliation;  I beseech 
you  to  take  to  it  immediately. 

If  on  some  night  of  darkness  I met  the  friend  of  my 
heart  walking  the  road  which  led  to  a precipice,  I should 
tell  him  of  his  danger,  and  point  out  the  safe  direction  for 
him  to  take  himself  to.  If  he  refused  to  hear  me,  I should 
repeat  to  him  my  earnest  assurances  of  his  danger.  If  he 
would  not  believe  me,  I should  insist  with  all  the  tones  of 
truth  and  tenderness.  If  he  persisted  in  his  obstinacy,  I 
would  positively  attempt  to  force  him  away  from  the  path 
he  was  walking  in.  If  I was  not  strong  enough,  I would 
fall  on  my  knees  to  him — I would  try  to  overpower  him 
by  my  entreaties  and  my  warnings — I would  do  all  that 
friendship  could  do  to  turn  him  from  his  infatuation;  nor 
would  I leave  him  till  either  I had  accomplished  my  pur- 
pose, or  he  had  fallen  a victim  to  his  rashness  and  his  folly. 
In  like  manner  does  the  Christian  minister  open  his  eyes 
upon  the  people  whom  he  addresses.  In  this  dark  world 
the  road  to  heaven  is  often  not  perceived,  and  not  walked 
in.  Christ  says — •“  I am  the  way  ; by  me  if  any  man  enter 
in  he  shall  be  saved.  Let  him  believe  my  testimony — let 
him  listen  to  my  calls — let  him  submit  himself  to  my  gos- 
pel— let  him  make  himself  over  to  me,  as  the  Saviour  whose 
blood  has  redeemed  him,  and  whose  Spirit,  if  he  pray  for 
it  in  faith,  will  renew  him  and  make  him  meet  for  the 
inheritance.  Let  him  do  this,  and  he  is  reconciled  unto 


Ut>  THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 

God,  apd  set  on  the  only  way  to  a happy  eternity.”  Well 
then,  aoes  the  embassador  of  Christ  see  any  of  you  in  this 
way  ? fulfilling  the  desires  of  your  own  hearts- — laying  up 
for  the  world,  and  making  no  provision  for  that  eternity 
which  is  coming  so  rapidly  upon  you — continuing  in  your 
iniquities,  instead  of  turning  from  them  unto  Christ — build- 
ing yourselves  up  in  the  deceitful  security  that  you  will  get 
to  heaven  with  a few  moral  decencies,  that  make  you  pass 
in  society  with  a character  as  fair  and  as  respectable  as 
that  of  your  neighbors  around  you,  at  the  very  time  that 
God  is  forgotten,  and  His  love  has  no  operation  within  you, 
and  His  way  of  salvation  by  His  Son  is  not  acknowledged 
or  walked  in,  and  His  law,  however  much  it  may  be  fulfilled 
in  some  external  points,  is  not  present  to  the  heart,  and 
brings  not  the  whole  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  to  the  captivity 
of  His  obedience.  If  this  be  the  situation  of  any  who  now 
hear  me,  then  has  your  minister  a right  to  say  that  you  are 
walking  in  a miserably  wrong  way,  and  to  beg  that  you 
will  no  longer  walk  in  it.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  to  the  direc- 
tion of  safety  ; believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  ye 
shall  be  saved.  This  is  the  only  name  given  under  heaven. 
If  this  name  be  not  cordially  embraced — if  you  do  not  rest 
for  salvation  upon  him — if  you  do  not  build  your  hope  of 
forgiveness  upon  His  sacrifice — if  the  faith  that  is  in  you  do 
not  work  a good  evidence  to  the  operation  of  that  Spirit 
which  is  promised  to  all  who  believe,  to  turn  them  from  all 
sin,  and  lead  them  to  the  love  and  the  practice  of  all  right- 
eousness ; — if  this  be  indeed  your  state,  you  are  out  of  the 
way — you  are  still  in  the  dangerous  situation  of  being  un- 
reconciled to  God.  In  this  situation  your  minister  meets 
with  you,  and  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  you  are  within  the 
reach  of  his  hearing,  and  he  tells  you  of  your  danger.  He 
looks  upon  you  as  his  friends  and  acquaintances ; and  how, 
I ask  you,  can  he  bear  it — that  people  whom  he  meets 
every  day  on  the  road — people  whom  he  calls  upon  in  thei*r 
houses — people  with  whom  he  should  like  to  exchange  vis- 
its— people  whose  health  and  prosperity  he  rejoices  in,  and 
whose  sickness  or  misfortunes  would  give  him  pain ; — how 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


347 


can  he  bear  to  think  that  they  should  be>  walking,  and  not 
be  warned  of  it,  in  the  broad  way  which  leadeth  to  de- 
struction ? 

Shall  he  feel  a sympathy  for  the  little  ailments  and  calam- 
ities of  this  life,  and  shall  he  stand  unmoved  when  he  sees 
you,  by  your  indifference  to  the  truth,  by  your  neglect  of 
the  great  salvation,  by  your  resistance  of  every  offer  to  be 
reconciled  to  God  in  Christ,  walking  so  miserably  astray 
and  running  on  the  path  that  leads  to  evil,  and  heaping  up 
to  yourselves  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and  revel- 
ation of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  ? It  may  be  often, 
or  it  may  be  seldom,  that  your  minister  and  you  meet 
with  each  other ; but  when  you  do  meet,  it  is  on  terms  of 
peace  and  civility — every  appearance  of  cordiality  in  your 
salutations,  and  every  appearance  of  kindness  in  your  mutual 
compliments  and  inquiries.  How,  then,  can  he  bear  to  see 
any  of  you  posting  with  all  speed  to  a condemned  and  un- 
done eternity  ? Though  he  should  himself  get  to  the  heaven 
he  is  aspiring  after,  is  that  any  reason  why  he  should  tolerate 
the  idea  of  you,  my  friends,  persisting  in  enmity  with  God 
— of  the  hell  that  will  be  your  portion,  and  the  gulf  of  ever- 
lasting separation  that  will  then  be  placed  between  him  and 
you?  It  were  only  the  want  of  faith  which  could  make 
him  sit  at  ease  under  a contemplation  so  painful  as  the  one 
that  I am  now  presenting ; but  knowing,  as  he  does,  the 
awful  realities  of  the  other  world,  he  were  untrue  to  his 
Master’s  cause  if  he  did  not  bring  every  engine  to  bear 
upon  you ; and  though  with  a voice  more  tender  than  hu- 
man sympathy  ever  prompted,  he  called  on  you  from  this 
pulpit  to  turn  and  be  reconciled — though  he  went  from 
house  to  house,  and  with  all  earnestness  beseeched  you  to 
be  reconciled — though  he  fell  on  his  knees  before  you,  and 
entreated  you  with  tears  to  mind  the  things  which  belong  m 
to  your  peace  lest  they  be  for  ever  hid  from  your  eyes — he 
would  just  be  doing  what  Paul  did  before  him,  when  he 
prayed  his  people  in  Christ’s  stead  to  be  reconciled  unto  God. 

You  will  observe,  my  brethren,  that  if  God  refused  to 
receive  those  who  call  upon  Him — if  He  still  stood  out  on 


348 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


the  dignity  of  H1%  law,  and  said,  I will  not  come  to  terms 
with  those  who  have  broken  and  insulted  it — if  there  was 
any  unwillingness  on  His  part  to  make  it  up  with  you — 
then  it  might  be  vain  for  me,  or  for  any  minister,  to  call  on 
the  one  party  to  be  reconciled,  while  the  other  party  would 
. not  admit  of  reconciliation.  But  this  is  not  the  state  of  the 
case ; God  is  willing.  He  Himself  made  and  proclaimed 
the  way  of  return  by  which  sinners  have  free  access  to  His 
throne ; and  all  who  will  are  invited  to  come  and  drink  of 
the  waters  of  life  freely.  Christ,  the  way,  is  offered  unto 
all ; and  it  was  God  who  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  Go  not,  then, 
to  charge  God  with  unwillingness  to  be  reconciled.  The 
want  of  willingness  is  on  your  part,  and  not  upon  His. 
Come  unto  Him  through  the  appointed  Mediator.  I beseech 
you  to  do  so.  Take  to  the  faith  and  the  following  of  Christ, 
and  you  are  safe.  If  your  reconciliation  to  God  have  not 
yet  been  made,  it  is  because  you  are  unwilling.  The  un- 
willingness lies  with  you  ; and  do  not  charge  it  upon  God, 
who  calls  on  every  one  of  you  to  repent,  and  be  reconciled, 
and  live — who  swears  by  Himself  that  He  has  no  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  a sinner — who,  for  the  very  purpose  of 
delivering  you  from  this  death,  sent  you  a mighty  Redeemer, 
who  gave  this  account  of  Himself,  that  He  came  not  to 
destroy  men’s  lives  but  to  save  them.  By  Him  the  ransom 
of  iniquity  is  paid,  and  a way  of  acceptance  is  opened,  and 
every  thing  is  made  clear  with  God,  and  there  is  free 
access  to  Him  through  a Mediator ; and  I again  pray  you 
in  Christ’s  stead,  that  ye  be  reconciled  unto  God. 

I have  left  myself  little  time  for  the  second  head  of  dis- 
course, in  which  I was  to  lay  it  before  you,  that  while  I 
beseeched  you  with  my  own  voice,  God  beseeched  you  by 
me.  It  is  He  who  has  given  the  warrant  for  all  this  free 
and  earnest  invitation.  My  urgency  on  this  subject  is  the 
urgency  of  Him  who  has  commissioned  me  to  present  to 
you  the  word  of  this  great  salvation.  I am  only  the  instru- 
ment of  God  in  this  matter ; and  what  I want  to  press  upon 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


313 


you  is,  that  He,  the  mighty  Sovereign  of  heaven  and  of  earth 
is  at  this  moment  employed,  through  His  ministers  and  His 
Bibles, not  merely  in  threatening, not  merely  in  commanding, 
not  merely  in  issuing  His  solemn  proclamations  from  hence, 
that  all  men  should  repent ; but,  more  wonderful  and  more 
affecting  than  all  this,  He  puts  Himself  forth  in  the  attitude  of 
beseeching  you  to  be  reconciled.  He  feels  toward  you  all 
the  longing  anxiety  of  a father  bereaved  of  his  children, 
and  He  implores  your  return  to  Him.  He  beckons  your 
approach  to  Him — He  waves  the  signal  of  a most  gracious 
and  willing  invitation,  and  says,  “ Look  unto  me,  all  ye  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  be  ye  saved.”  He  tries  to  soften  the 
sinner’s  heart  by  the  tenderness  of  His  imploring  voice,  and 
prays  him  to  be  reconciled.  And  be  assured,  my  brethren, 
that  however  much  I beseech  you,  however  earnestly  I 
have  your  salvation  at  heart,  however  anxiously  I implore 
you  to  return  from  the  way  of  hostility  against  God,  to  the 
way  of  friendship  and  of  peace  with  Him — be  assured  that 
I fall  far  short  of  the  earnestness,  and  sincerity,  and  anxious 
desire  after  you  of  my  Master,  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  invis- 
ible in  the  heavens ; but  it  is  your  part,  though  you  see 
Him  not,  to  believe  in  Him  ; and  it  is  only  the  want  of 
belief  that  can  take  away  from  the  force  of  this  affecting  ar- 
gument. Were  He  to  appear  in  person  amongst  you,  vested 
with  the  whole  power  of  heaven  and  earth,  mighty  to  save, 
and  entreating  you  to  return,  and  to  take  to  Him  as  your 
Redeemer,  and  to  be  reconciled  unto  God,  who,  if  you  be- 
lieve in  Christ,  will  not  impute  unto  you  your  trespasses — 
I say,  were  He  to  do  all  this,  could  you  possibly  stand  out 
against  such  powerful  entreaties  and  solicitations  ? And 
what  else,  then,  is  it  but  the  want  of  faith  which  makes 
you  to  refuse  me  now,  when  you  have  not  Christ  in  person 
to  entreat  you?  If  you  really  believed  that  He  was  in 
heaven,  and  that  He  was  there  managing  for  the  interests 
of  all  who  put  their  trust  in  Him,  and  that  He  was  carry- 
ing on  a government  upon  earth,  and  employing  ministers 
and  Bibles  as  agents  for  gaining  subjects  to  His  kingdom, 
and  for  turning  perishing  sinners  to  the  love  and  obedience 


350 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


of  His  Gospel,  then  would  you  feel  that  it  was  not  I who 
beseeched  you,  but  Christ  who  beseeched  you  by  me. 
Now,  I call  on  you  to  believe  this.  On  the  authority  of 
my  text  I call  you — Christ  speaketh  there,  and  what  He 
utters  is  an  actual  prayer  to  you,  that  you  would  be  recon- 
ciled unto  God.  And  what  is  more,  God  speaketh  there — 
I and  the  Father  am  one,  says  the  Saviour ; and  such  is 
the  unity  of  mind  and  of  purpose  between  them,  that  a call 
from  Christ  is  a call  from  God.  And  accordingly,  what  do 
we  read  in  the  text?  God  beseeching  you — the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth  descending  to  beseech  you — He  whom 
you  have  so  deeply  offended,  whom  in  the  past  time  of  your 
lives  you  have  forgotten  every  hour,  whose  holy  law  you 
have  trampled  upon  and  put  far  away  from  you — He  before 
whom  you  stand  with  a load  of  sins  calling  for  vengeance, 
in  what  situation  does  the  text  represent  Him  ? The  mighty 
God  who  fills  all  space,  and  reigns  in  majesty  over  all 
worlds,  standing  at  the  door  of  the  sinner’s  heart,  humbling 
Himself  to  the  language  of  entreaty,  beseeching  the  sinner 
to  come  and  be  reconciled  to  Him,  begging  for  admittance, 
and  protesting  that  if  you  only  come  unto  Him  through 
Christ,  He  is  willing  to  forgive  all,  and  to  forget  all.  Oh ! 
my  brethren,  ought  not  this  to  encourage  you?  Yes  ! and 
if  you  refuse  the  encouragement,  it  ought  also  to  fill  you 
with  terror.  The  terrors  of  the  Lord  are  doubtless  some- 
times preached  to  you,  and  I am  now  preaching  to  you  the 
goodness  and  the  tenderness  of  the  Lord ; but  be  assured 
that  this  goodness,  so  far  from  setting  aside  the  terrors,  will, 
if  despised  and  rejected  by  you,  give  them  their  tenfold 
aggravation.  Oh  ! what  an  awful  weight  of  condemnation 
it  brings  on  a sinner’s  head,  that  he  persists  in  his  iniquities 
in  the  face  of  so  much  goodness — in  the  face  of  all  the 
opportunities  that  are  held  out  to  him  of  obtaining  pardon 
for  the  whole  guilt  of  the  past,  and  strength  for  the  whole 
reformation  of  the  future — in  the  face  of  the  repeated  calls 
with  which  God,  by  His  Bibles  and  His  ministers,  is  at  all 
times  plying  him.  And  be  most  certain,  my  brethren,  that 
if  this  gospel  be  not  the  savor  of  life  to  you,  it  will  be  the 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


351 


savor  of  death  to  you.  It  will  add  to  the  weight  of  your 
reckoning  that  you  have  sinned,  and  persisted  in  sin,  and 
kept  in  a state  of  rebellion  against  your  Maker,  in  the  midst 
of  despised  warnings  and  slighted  invitations,  and  unheeded 
encouragements,  and  neglected  opportunities.  Happy  those 
who  are  constrained  by  all  this  encouragement ; but  what 
will  become  of  those  who  reject  it?  What  will  become  of 
you,  if  the  call  and  entreaty  I have  now  sounded  in  your 
ears  shall  be  found  to  have  had  no  influence  upon  you? 
Look  forward  to  the  day  of  judgment,  and  when  the  high 
matters  of  God  and  man  are  reasoned  over  there,  tell  me 
which  of  the  two  shall  have  the  plea  upon  their  side  ? Tell 
me  what  you  can  possibly  say  then,  if  you  refuse  now  the 
voice  of  a God  beseeching  you  to  be  reconciled?  You 
must  stand  in  silence  and  confusion  ; but  He  will  be  justified 
when  He  speaketh,  and  be  clear  when  He  judgeth — “I 
proclaimed  a law,  and  you  brake  it ; I appointed  a Media- 
tor, and  you  refused  Him ; I knocked  at  the  door  of  your 
hearts,  and  you  gave  me  no  admittance ; I beseeched  you 
to  be  reconciled,  and  you  turned  away  from  me.”  Oh ! 
hold  out  no  longer,  my  brethren  ! Harden  not  your  hearts 
as  in  the  provocation  ! Stay  not  till  a more  convenient 
season.  Listen  to  Him  now,  I say,  and  make  not  your 
hard  and  impenitent  hearts  still  more  hard  and  more  im- 
penitent by  refusing  Him. 

And  now,  my  brethren,  what  use  are  you  to  make  of  all 
this  that  has  now  been  delivered  in  your  hearing  ? Often, 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  has  your  minister  urged  the  terrors  of 
the  Lord  upon  you ; and  let  me  tell  you  with  all  earnest- 
ness, that  if  you  keep  on  the  ground  of  rebellion  against 
God,  or  even  forgetfulness  of  him,  you  are  on  ground, 
where  if  death  find  you,  it  will  hurry  you  into  the  presence 
of  an  incensed  Lawgiver,  from  whence  you  will  pass  into 
the  dreary  and  interminable  sufferings  of  a hopeless  eter- 
nity ; and  who  is  there  among  you  stout-hearted  enough  to 
dwell  with  the  devouring  fire  ? who  of  you  can  choose  to 
lie  down  amongst  everlasting  burnings  ? But  I have  this 
day  told  you  more  than  this. — I have  attempted  to  assure 


352 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


you,  that  God  has  no  pleasure  in  so  awful  a catastrophe ; 
and  while  you  are  in  the  land  of  living  men,  he  plies  you 
with  the  calls  to  return,  and  with  the  assurances  of  pardon. 
He  is  willing  at  this  moment  to  receive  every  one  of  you : 
He  holds  out  His  Son  as  a propitiation  for  the  sins  that  are 
past : He  invites  you  to  come  and  have  all  the  guilt  of  your 
manifold  iniquities  washed  out  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb : 
He  has  already  given  His  Son  for  you ; and  as  He  has 
done  so  much,  He  is  still  ready  to  do  more — to  give  you 
through  that  Son  a full  forgiveness,  and  an  abundant  supply 
of  the  Spirit,  and  the  effectual  washing  of  regeneration,  and 
such  a renewal  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  will 
make  you  from  this  time  forward  hate  all  sin,  and  aspire 
after  the  love  and  the  practice  of  all  righteousness.  How 
is  it  possible  that  you  can  stand  unmoved  under  the  power 
of  an  argument  so  touching?  Do  you  know  the  situation 
you  occupy  ? Do  you  know  that  death,  which  has  already 
swept  away  so  many  generations  from  the  face  of  the 
world,  will  in  a few  little  years  make  sure  work  of  every 
one  of  you,  and  lay  you  side  by  side  in  the  sepulchers  of 
loneliness  and  corruption?  What  are  you  about,  ye  living 
men,  that  you  are  so  losing  time,  and  so  throwing  your 
opportunities  away  from  you,  and  so  keeping  wedded  to 
this  wretched  world  that  is  soon  to  be  burnt  up,  and  to 
those  pleasures  of  sin  which  are  but  for  a season,  and  will 
leave  nothing  but  remorse  and  painfulness  behind  them  ? 
Do  you  remember  the  parable  of  the  fig-tree,  on  which 
fruit  was  sought  and  no  fruit  was  found,  and  it  was  proposed 
that  it  should  be  cut  down,  for  why  should  it  cumber  the 
ground  which  it  occupied  ? But  the  proposal  was  put  off 
for  a little  time ; and  it  was  dressed,  and  dug  about,  and 
had  manure  put  around  it — and  for  another  year  it  was 
left  alone,  that  if  it  should  bear  fruit,  good  and  well,  but  if 
not,  then  let  it  be  cut  down.  And  this,  my  brethren,  is  the 
interesting  point  at  which  you  stand.  You  are  still  let 
alone ; and  God  has  given  you  health  and  opportunity  to 
come  within  the  reach  of  another  invitation  ; and  the  argu- 
ments of  the  gospel  have  once  more  been  applied  to  your 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


353 


consciences ; and  you  have  no  pretext  whatever  for  not 
stirring  yourselves,  for  God  has  declared  His  perfect  will- 
ingness to  receive  every  one  of  you,  if  you  come  unto  Him 
in  faith  and  in  repentance.  And  should  there  be  no  fruit 
from  all  these  repeated  applications — should  all  the  earnest- 
ness that  has  been  spent  upon  you  have  been  given  to  the 
wind — should  the  word  heard  be  like  water  spilt  upon  the 
ground,  and  have  fallen  without  efficacy  on  hearts  blinded 
by  the  god  of  this  world,  and  utterly  indisposed  to  abandon 
its  vanities  and  its  pleasures — should  the  voice  lifted  up  in 
your  hearing  fall  as  fruitlessly  on  your  ears  as  the  voice 
lifted  up  in  a wilderness — then,  my  brethren,  for  any  thing 
you  know,  the  last  experiment  has  been  made  upon  you, 
and  the  last  arrow  has  been  shot  at  you,  and  the  last  call 
of  tenderness  you  may  ever  hear  has  reached  your  senses, 
while  your  heart  has  remained  as  shielded  and  impenetra- 
ble as  before  ; and  the  kind  Saviour,  who  is  still  as  merciful 
a High  Priest  as  ever — seeing  the  determined  obstinacy, 
and  self-deceit,  and  incurable  delusion  of  your  souls,  may 
be  saying  of  you  what  He  said  of  Jerusalem,  “ O ye  people, 
ye  people,  I would  have  gathered  you  together  as  a hen 
gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  but  ye  would  not ; 
O had  you  minded  the  things  which  belong  to  your  peace, 
but  now  they  are  for  ever  hid  from  your  eyes.” 

Let  me  hope  better  things  of  you,  my  brethren.  Let  me 
hope  that  all  this  tenderness  is  not  lost  upon  you.  Let  me 
trust  that  in  many  a soul  of  many  a hearer  there  is  a move- 
ment towards  God.  I see  not  the  heart  of  any  of  you  ; but 
if  a single  sigh  after  repentance  is  now  lifting  from  any  one 
of  them,  if  a single  purpose  of  repentance  is  now  forming — 
though  I«see  it  not,  God  sees  it ; and  with  all  the  eagerness 
of  a father  after  one  of  his  lost  and  alienated  children,  will 
He  descend  from  the  eminence  of  His  glory,  and  run  to 
meet  you,  though  you  be  far  off  from  Him,  and  stretch  out 
the  hand  of  encouragement  to  receive  you,  and  welcome 
you  with  a thousand  greetings  to  the  household  of  the  faith- 
ful, and  perfect  that  which  concerns  you,  and  minister 
abundant  pardon  through  the  blood  of  Him  who  has  mag- 


354 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


nified  His  law  and  made  it  honorable,  and  sustain  you  by 
the  constant  supplies  of  His  grace,  and  by  the  daily  refresh- 
ments of  that  Spirit  who  can  alone  strengthen  you  for  all 
obedience.  Do,  my  brethren,  stir  yourselves  to  the  mighty 
work  of  repentance.  It  is  comparatively  but  a poor  argu- 
ment to  allege  that  by  so  doing  you  will  send  joy  into  the 
heart  of  your  minister,  or  of  any  fellow-mortal— you  will 
rejoice  the  hearts  of  angels  who  are  now  standing  on  the 
high  eminences  of  heaven,  and  casting  their  benevolent 
eyes  on  you,  and  would  smile  complacency  on  the  prospect 
of  another  penitent  to  join  their  happy  number ; and  there 
is  not  one  of  you,  though  worthless  as  the  worst  of  sinners, 
and  poor  as  beggary  itself,  who  may  not,  this  very  day,  by 
the  softening  of  his  heart  into  the  repentance  of  the  gospel, 
spread  joy  over  the  wide  circle  of  heaven’s  benignant 
family. 

And  having  asked  you  to  begin  the  good  course,  let  me 
conclude  with  the  positive  requirement  which  our  Saviour 
laid  upon  the  people  He  called,  even  at  the  very  outset  of 
their  discipleship.  In  coming  to  Christ,  forsake  all.  You 
cannot  too  early  begin  the  work  of  struggling  with  your 
iniquities.  Nay,  if  you  are  not  so  struggling,  the  invitations 
of  the  gospel  have  had  no  effect  upon  you.  He  who  turneth 
to  Christ,  turneth  from  his  iniquities.  Cleanse  your  hands, 
ye  sinners — give  up  all  that  your  conscience  tells  you  to  be 
wrong — seek  after  all  that  your  conscience  tells  you  to  be 
right — enter  from  this  moment  into  a course  of  decided 
turning  from  all  wickedness,  and  of  decided  earnestness  in 
all  the  new  obedience  of  the  gospel.  God  will  not  despise 
the  day  of  small  things.  He  will  not  turn  in  indifference 
away  from  your  first  attempts  to  seek  after  Him,  if  haply 
you  may  find  Him.  Cherish  no  doubt  of  your  forgiveness 
through  the  merits  of  His  Son — if  you  betake  yourselves  to 
the  leaving  off  of  all  that  He  bids  you  leave  off,  and  to  the 
doing  of  all  that  He  bids  you  do ; and  could  we  only  get 
the  matter  begun,  with  such  a principle  and  such  a purpose 
at  the  bottom  of  it,  I would  not  be  afraid  of  your  stopping 
short : but,  committing  yourselves  to  the  guidance  of  Him 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


353 


who  is  able  to  strengthen  you  for  the  doing  of  all  things, 
you  would  abound  more  and  more  every  day,  and  ex- 
perience all  those  changes  of  soi!ll  and  of  spirit,  as  well 
as  of  body,  which  make  you  meet  for  the  Jerusalem 
above. 


SERMON  XXIII. 


'After  his  settlement  in  Glasgow,  Dr.  Chalmers  was  excessively  annoyed 
by  the  accumulation  of  all  kinds  of  secular  business  which  was  laid  upon  the 
city  ministers.  Resolved  to  proclaim  as  widely  as  possible  the  wrongs  thus 
done  to  the  Christian  ministry,  and  at  least  to  work  out  a way  of  deliverance 
for  himself,  he  carried  the  subject  to  the  pulpit.  He  had  intended  to  preach 
twice  upon  this  topic.  The  effect  of  the  first  sermon — the  one  now  pub- 
lished— was  such  that  he  was  dissuaded  from  pursuing  it — abundant  assur- 
ances being  tendered  to  him  that  he  would  not  be  so  interfered  with  in  the 
future.  So  strongly,  however,  had  he  felt  upon  this  matter,  that  I find  among 
his  manuscripts  the  introduction  to  a sermon  intended  to  be  a sequel  to  the 
one  now  published,  written  about  the  time  that  he  was  appointed  to  the 
Church  of  St.  John’s,  and  which  he  had  purposed  to  deliver  to  the  Tron 
Church  congregation  before  parting  from  them.  Owing,  I presume,  to  an 
urgency  similar  to  that  which  had  been  brought  to  bear  upon  him  previously, 
his  intention  in  this  second  instance  also  was  laid  aside.] 


ACTS  VI.  2. 

“Then  the  twelve  called  the  multitude  of  the  disciples  unto  them,  and  said,  It  is  not  reason 
that  we  should  leave  the  word  of  God,  and  serve  tables.” 

It  is  a very  possible  thing  to  denounce  a vicious  system 
without  bearing  hard  on  so  much  as  one  of  the  individual 
agents  of  that  system.  It  is  a very  possible  thing  to  attack 
a great  public  corruption — ay,  and  that,  too,  with  all  the 
honest  vehemence  of  sentiment,  while  all  that  vehemence 
of  passion  which  discharges  itself  in  the  severities  of  point- 
ed and  personal  application  may  be  utterly  kept  away. 
Surely  it  is  quite  possible  to  be  on  the  one  hand  zealously 
affected  in  a good  thing,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  bear  in 
constant  and  effectual  remembrance  that  the  wrath  of  man 
worketh  not  the  righteousness  of  God.  May  we  therefore 
never  let  down  our  zeal  for  the  good  work  of  a most  desir- 
able and  much  called  for  reformation,  and  at  the  same  time 
never  suffer  the  entrance  into  our  bosoms  for  an  ingredient 
so  hateful  as  contempt  towards  any  one  established  dignity. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


357 


or  the  virulence  of  exasperated  feeling  towards  the  perver- 
sities or  the  willful  blindness  of  any  one  individual. 

I hold  it  fair  to  say,  in  relation  to  the  case  now  before  us, 
that  were  I at  all  disposed  to  wreak  anger  or  give  vent  to 
any  one  of  my  vindictive  sensibilities  on  this  subject,  I 
should  be  at  a loss  to  find  out  the  human  being  on  whom  I 
could  make  to  rest  the  burden  of  my  indignation.  I posi- 
tively cannot  tell  who  have  the  blame  of  this  mischievous 
system.  Not  altogether  the  existing  generation  of  official 
men — for  they  received  it  as  a legacy  from  their  predeces- 
sors. Not  altogether  the  senators  of  our  land,  who  are  so 
heedlessly  accumulating  upon  the  ministers  of  religion  such 
an  oppressive  load  of  signatures  and  certificates,  and  other 
underling  secularises,  as,  if  persisted  in  much  longer,  will 
bury  the  sacredness  of  the  character  altogether,  and  trans- 
form him  who  sustains  it  into  a mere  agent  of  police  or  of 
civil  regulation — for  the  unseen  field  of  our  labors  is  too  far 
removed  from  their  habitual  observation  to  make  them  at 
all  aware  of  the  mischief  they  are  inflicting  on  the  charac- 
ter of  our  people,  and  the  best  interests  of  our  country. 
Not  altogether  the  ministers  themselves,  whose  task  it  is  to 
watch  over  their  assigned  department,  and  in  the  duteous 
spirit  of  loyalty,  to  tell  our  state,  our  governors,  and  our 
patriots,  how  hurtfully  this  invasion  bears  on  the  usefulness 
of  their  order  ; for  in  truth  the  progress  of  the  mischief  has 
been  most  insinuating — it  has  come  upon  us  in  the  way  of 
gradual  accumulations.  At  each  distinct  step  it  wore  the 
aspect  of  a benevolent  and  kind  accommodation  to  the 
humblei  orders  of  society — and  so  the  matter  has  swelled 
and  multiplied  till  the  upshot  of  this  kind  and  benevolent 
system  has  been  that  in  our  larger  towns  it  has  effected,  as 
to  every  moral  and  every  spiritual  purpose,  an  entire  sepa- 
ration of  the  minister  and  the  people  from  each  other ; and 
the  man  whose  business  it  was  in  the  olden  time  to  prepare 
for  your  Sabbath  instruction,  and  to  watch  over  your  souls, 
and  to  hold  individual  conference  with  every  earnest  in- 
quirer, and  to  ply  his  daily  attendance  upon  your  death- 
beds, and  by  his  yearly  presence  to  shed  a holy  influence 


358 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


over  your  streets  and  your  families,  and  to  brandish  all  that 
spiritual  armor  which  the  great  Master  of  the  Church  has 
put  into  his  hand  for  reclaiming  the  profligate  and  overaw- 
ing the  audaciously  wicked,  and  arresting  the  mad  career 
of  licentiousness,  and  so  manifesting  the  truth  to  the  con- 
sciences of  men  as  to  force  their  willing  consent  to  the 
faith  and  the  obedience  of  the  gospel — the  man,  I say,  who 
had  this  for  his  business  then  has  got  other  business  now  to 
engross  and  to  occupy  him.  The  kind  and  the  benevolent 
system  has  put  other  services  into  his  hand,  and  he  is  far 
too  busy  with  the  performance  of  these  modern  and  super- 
induced duties,  which  have  been  grafted  on  our  clerical 
office,  to  have  either  time  or  strength  for  the  driveling  ex- 
ercises of  a former  generation — and  so  it  is,  my  brethren, 
that  now-a-days  among  the  other  boasts  of  this  enlightened 
age,  you  will  find  he  can  boast  a chamber  which  has  upon 
it  as  much  of  the  important  aspect  of  business  as  any  of 
you,  and  he  is  as  deeply  involved  in  the  whirl  of  secular 
employments,  and  is  as  constantly  beset  with  the  urgency 
of  most  clamorous  demands  on  his  time  and  his  attention ; 
ai^d  that  inner  apartment  which  was  wont  to  be  the  scene 
of  meditations  sustained  for  hours  together,  and  out  of  which 
the  well-built  argument,  and  the  powerful  remonstrance, 
and  the  pathetic  expostulation,  issued  forth  in  a refreshing 
stream  of  Christian  and  moral  influence  upon  the  people,  is 
now  laid  open  to  the  din  of  every  invading  footstep,  and 
has  all  its  thoughtfulness  and  all  its  tranquillity  chased 
away  from  it,  and  the  whole  of  that  machinery  by  which 
the  products  of  the  mind  are  accumulated  through  the  week, 
and  brought  forth  with  the  return  of  every  hallowed  day  to 
nourish  and  to  edify  a congregation,  is  now  most  cruelly 
broken  up.  Ay,  my  brethren,  and  if  you  have  any  sym- 
pathy at  all  with  the  woes  of  that  dark  period  in  history 
when  the  unlettered  hordes  of  the  North  burst  on  the  pol- 
ished domains  of  art  and  of  learning,  and  in  one  tide  of  ruth- 
less invasion  laid  low  all  the  vestiges  of  refinement,  and  bore 
down  all  the  aspiring  energies  of  genius,  then  let  me  point 
your  attention  to  another  invasion  just  as  Gothic  in  its  char- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


359 


acter,  though  not  so  widely  visible  in  its  display — an  inva- 
sion by  which  the  door  of  many  an  intellectual  retreat  is 
now  no  longer  a security  to  its  occupier,  and  the  truly  Brit- 
ish maxim  of  every  man’s  house  being  his  castle  is  trampled 
upon  in  all  the  wantonness  of  an  arbitrary  and  assumed 
discretion  by  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  land.  Yes  ! 
and  be  they  the  rulers  of  our  kingdom  or  the  rulers  of  our 
cities,  who  give  their  seal  to  these  distressing  inroads  on 
the  peacefulness  of  a studious  habitation,  all  the  power 
which  sanctions  so  glaring  an  injustice,  and  all  that  pa- 
geantry of  official  grandeur  by  which  the  solemn  air  ot 
legality  is  thrown  around  it,  only  serve  to  confirm  the  re- 
semblance which  has  now  occurred  to  me  ; nor,  should  this 
shameful  claim  be  persisted  in,  shall  I ever  cease  to  look 
upon  it  as  the  triumph  of  strength  over  principle,  the  mourn- 
ful ascendency  of  vulgar  power  over  the  high  prerogatives 
of  the  understanding. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  following  discourse,  I shall  first 
submit  to  your  attention  a short  narrative  of  all  the  exac- 
tions and  the  services  by  which  the  ministers  of  the  gospel 
in  this  our  land  are  withdrawn  from  prayer  and  from  the 
ministry  of  the  word.  I shall,  in  the  second  place,  attempt 
to  demonstrate  the  evils  of  this  system ; and,  in  the  third 
place,  to  recommend  some  palliatives  by  which,  till  it  be 
conclusively  done  away,  a defense  against  these  evils  might 
be  reared  in  behalf  of  our  parish  and  our  congregation. 

I proceed,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  narrative. 

Among  the  people  of  our  busy  land,  who  are  ever  on  the 
wing  of  activity,  and  whether  in  circumstances  of  peace  or 
of  war,  are  at  all  times  feeling  the  impulse  of  some  national 
movement  or  other,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a series 
of  transactions  should  be  constantly  flowing  between  the 
metropolis  of  the  empire  and  its  distant  provinces.  There 
are  the  remittances  which  pass  through  our  public  offices 
from  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  service  of  Government  to 
their  relations  at  home.  There  are  letters  of  inquiry  sent 
back  again  from  their  relations.  There  is  all  the  corres- 
pondence, and  all  the  business  of  draughts,  and  other  ne- 


360 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


gotiations  which  come  upon  the  decease  of  a soldier  or  a 
sailor.  There  is  the  whole  tribe  of  hospital  allowances. 
There  is  the  payment  of  pensions,  and  a variety  of  other 
items,  of  which  I am  sorry  that  I have  kept  no  register,  but 
which  even  though  I had,  it  might  have  been  improper  to 
suspend  your  attention  any  longer,  upon  so  strange  and 
tedious  an  enumeration. 

Now,  here  lies  the  essence  of  the  mischief.  The  indi- 
viduals with  whom  these  different  transactions  are  carried 
on  need  to  be  verified.  They  live  in  some  parish  or  other 
— and  who  can  be  fitter  for  the  required  purpose  than  the 
parish  minister  ? He  is,  or  he  ought  to  be,  acquainted  with 
every  one  of  his  parishioners  ; and  this  acquaintance,  which 
he  never  can  obtain  in  towns  but  by  years  of  ministerial 
exertion  amongst  them,  is  turned  to  an  object  destructive 
of  the  very  principle  upon  which  he  was  selected  for  such 
a service.  It  saddles  him  with  a task  which  breaks  in  upon 
his  ministerial  exertions — which  widens  his  distance  from 
his  people,  and  in  the  end  makes  him  as  unfit  for  certifying 
a single  clause  of  information  about  them  as  the  most  pri- 
vate individual  of  his  neighborhood. 

Yet  so  it  is.  The  minister  is  the  organ  of  many  a com- 
munication between  his  people  and  the  offices  in  London 
— and  many  a weary  signature  is  exacted  from  him,  and  a 
world  of  management  is  devolved  upon  his  shoulders  ; and 
instead  of  sitting  like  his  fathers  in  office,  surrounded  by 
the  theology  of  present  or  of  other  days,  he  must  now  turn 
his  study  into  a counting-room,  and  have  his  well-arranged 
cabinet  before  him,  fitted  up  with  its  sections  and  its  other 
conveniences  for  notices  and  duplicates,  and  all  the  scraps 
and  memoranda  of  a manifold  correspondence. 

But  the  history  does  not  stop  here.  The  example  of 
Government  has  descended,  and  is  now  quickly  running 
through  the  whole  field  of  private  and  individual  agency. 
The  negotiation  of  the  business  of  prize  moneys  is  one  out 
of  several  examples  which  occur  to  me.  The  emigration 
of  new  settlers  to  Canada  is  another/  It  does  not  appear 
that  there  is  any  act  of  Government  authorizing  the  agents 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


361 


in  this  matter  to  fix  on  the  clergy  as  the  organs,  either  for 
the  transaction  of  their  business,  or  the  conveyance  of  their 
information  to  the  people  of  the  iand.  But  they  find  it  con- 
venient to  follow  the  example  of  Government,  and  have 
accordingly  done  so — and  in  this  way  a mighty  host  of 
schedules  and  circulars  and  printed  forms,  with  long  blank 
spaces  which  the  minister  will  have  the  goodness  to  fill  up 
according  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge,  come  into  muster- 
ing competition  with  the  whole  of  his  other  claims  and  his 
other  engagements.  It  is  true  that  the  minister  in  this  case 
may  decline  to  have  the  goodness  ; but  then  the  people  are 
apprized  of  the  arrangement,  and  trained  as  they  have  been 
too  well  to  look  up  to  the  minister  as  an  organ  of  civil  ac- 
commodation, will  they  lay  siege  to  his  dwelling-house, 
and  pour  upon  him  with  their  inquiries,  and  the  cruel  alter- 
native is  laid  upon  him  either  to  obstruct  the  convenience 
of  his  parishioners,  and  scowl  them  away  from  his  presence, 
or  to  take  the  whole  weight  of  a management  that  has  been 
so  indiscreetly  and  so  wantonly  assigned  to  him.  In  the 
painful  struggle  between  the  kindliness  of  his  nature  and 
the  primitive  and  essential  duties  of  his  office,  he  may  hap- 
pen to  fix  on  the  worse  and  not  on  the  better  part.  It  was 
not  reason  that  even  for  such  a service  I should  leave  the 
ministry  of  the  word  and  prayer — but  in  an  unlucky  mo- 
ment I have  done  so,  along,  I believe,  with  the  vast  majority 
of  my  brethren ; and  out  of  the  multitude  of  other  doings 
from  this  source  of  employment  alone,  which  are  now  past 
and  have  sunk  into  oblivion,  the  simple  achievement  of 
seventy  signatures  in  one  day  is  all  that  my  dizzy  recollec- 
tion has  been  able  to  keep  and  to  perpetuate. 

If  for  the  expediting  of  business  we  are  to  be  made  free 
with  even  by  private  individuals,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  if  charitable  bodies  should  at  all  times  look  for  our  sub- 
serviency to  their  schemes  and  their  operations  of  benevo- 
lence. When  a patriotic  fund,  or  a Waterloo  subscription, 
blazes  in  all  the  splendor  of  a nation’s  munificence  and  a 
nation’s  gratitude  before  the  public  eye,  who  shall  have  the 
hardihood  to  refuse  a single  item  of  the  bidden  co-operation 

VOL. VI. Q 


362 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


that  is  expected  from  him  ? Surely  such  a demand  as  this 
is  quite  irresistible,  and  accordingly  from  this  quarter  too 
a heavy  load  of  consultations  and  certificates,  with  the  ad- 
ditional singularity  of  having  to  do  with  the  drawing  of 
money,  and  the  keeping  of  it  in  safe  custody,  and  the  deal- 
ing out  of  it  in  small  discretionary  parcels,  according  to  the 
needs  and  circumstances  of  the  parties — all,  all  is  placed 
upon  the  shoulders  of  the  already  jaded  and  overborne 
minister. 

But  the  greater  number  of  these  employments,  it  may 
be  thought,  originated  in  our  state  of  war — and  now  that 
war  is  at  an  end,  they  will  cease  with  the  final  winding-up 
of  the  old  system.  Oh,  no  ! my  brethren.  This  great 
event  which  has  brought  peace  to  the  whole  country, 
has  brought  no  peace  to  the  minister.  In  some  unlucky 
hour  or  other  the  Secretary-at-War  seems  to  have  had  a 
conversation  with  the  Secretary  for  the  Home  Department, 
and  to  have  supplied  him  with  the  mischievous  hint  of  how 
vastly  convenient  a set  of.people  were  we  ministers,  I do 
not  know  if  this’  be  the  exact  account  of  the  matter ; but 
thus  much  I know,  that  some  such  hint  has  been  given,  and 
that  the  hint  is  most  assuredly  acted  upon — for  the  practice 
has  now  fairly  got  in,  when  the  right  man  can  not  be  found 
for  doing  any  piece  of  provincial  business,  just  to  hinge  it 
all  upon  the  minister.  Ay,  my  brethren,  and  should  you 
hear  of  your  minister  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  qualifications 
of  hawkers  and  spirit-dealers,  and  of  certifying  accordingly, 
you  must  just  put  it  down  among  the  first-fruits  of  that 
previous  system  which  has  lately  been  devised,  and  is  now 
in  a state  of  hopeful  perseverance,  for  conducting  the  mat- 
ters of  our  home  administration. 

I know  not  where  this  is  to  end,  or  what  new  and  un- 
heard of  duties  are  still  in  reserve  for  us ; but  thus  much  I 
know,  that  they  are  in  the  way  of  an  indefinite  accumula- 
tion. I have  heard  obscurely  of  some  very  recent  addition 
to  our  burdens,  but  of  what  it  particularly  is  I have  not  got 
the  distinct  or  the  authentic  information.  I am  not  civilian 
enough  to  know  if  even  an  Act  of  Parliament  carry  such 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


363 


an  omnipotence  along  with  it  as  to  empower  this  strange 
series  of  wanton  and  arbitrary  infringements  on  the  individ- 
ual hours  and  liberties  of  clergymen ; but  I am  patriot 
enough  to  feel  that  the  rulers  of  our  country  are,  for  a 
trifling  accommodation  which  they  should  contrive  to  find 
somewhere  else,  bartering  away  the  best  interests  of  its 
people — that  through  the  side  of  its  public  instructors  they 
are  reaching  a blow  to  the  morality  and  principle  of  the 
commonwealth — that  by  every  such  impolitic  enactmen4 
as  I have  now  attempted  to  expose,  they  are  slackening  the 
circulation  of  Christianity  and  of  all  its  healthful  and  ele- 
vating influences  amongst  our  towns  and  our  families — that 
they  are  sweeping  away  from  the  face  of  every  larger  city 
the  best  securities  for  order  and  contentment  and  loyalty ; 
nor  should  I wonder  if,  in  some  future  period  of  turbulence 
and  disorder,  they  shall  rue  the  infatuation  which  led  them 
so  to  tamper  with  the  religion  of  our  land  by  the  inroads 
they  are  now  making  on  the  duties,  and  the  cruel  profana- 
tion they  are  now  inflicting  on  the  sacredness  of  its  officiat- 
ing ministers. 

I now  pass  from  the  imposition  laid  on  the  clergy  by 
government  to  another  set  of  impositions  still  more  grievous 
and  intolerable — impositions,  in  virtue  of  which  the  city 
of  our  habitation  would  strip  its  ministers  of  all  the  comfort 
and  all  the  privileges  of  a home — impositions  by  which  you 
would  turn  what  ought  to  be  a life  of  tranquillity  into  a life 
of  tumult  and  distraction — impositions  by  which  you  would 
commit  to  your  Christian  teachers  the  burden  of  services 
which  others  should  have  borne,  and  would  offer  to  degrade 
them  into  a truckling  subserviency  upon  your  accommoda- 
tion, and  would  do  what  the  sons  of  liberal  and  generous 
accomplishment  lift  up  their  hand  in  astonishment  at  being 
told  of — would  force  an  unhallowed  entrance  into  the 
retreats  of  contemplation,  and  beset  the  study  of  a clergy- 
man with  a tribe  of  invasions  so  boisterous  and  unseemly 
that  you  would  refuse  an  admittance  for  them  into  your 
own  counting-houses.  I will  not  detach  a single  feature 
from  this  representation — nor  shall  I ever  cease  to  assert 


364 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


for  the  labors  of  the  mind  that  respect  and  that  pre-eminence 
which  have  been  hitherto  withheld  from  them.  I know  it 
well  that  upon  this  subject  there  is  a very  heavy  and  a very 
general  obstuseness,  that  the  processes  of  thought  are  not 
understood  by  those  with  whom  we  have  to  deal,  that  they 
do  not  readily  perceive  the  extent  of  that  mischief  which 
might  be  wrought  by  a single  interruption — how  one  pain- 
ful collision  with  some  clamorous  and  dissatisfied  petitioner 
is  enough  to  turn  the  inner-chamber  of  the  mind  into  a 
chaos  of  disorder,  and  to  unstring  for  a day  the  whole  of 
its  delicate  machinery.  All  this,  if  poured  into  the  ear  of 
a literary  man,  or  addressed  to  a reading  and  a cultivated 
public,  would  meet  at  once  their  discernment ; and  in  their 
intelligent  sympathy  some  recompense  would  be  gotten  for 
the  suffering  complained  of.  But  O,  how  cold  and  how 
comfortless  it  feels  when,  in  the  work  of  vindicating  the 
prerogative  of  intellectual  labor,  one  cannot  but  perceive 
that  he  is  lifting  up  his  voice  in  a wilderness  — that  the 
whole  stream  of  his  utterance  on  the  subject  plays  upon 
the  hearer  like  the  gibberish  of  an  unknown  tongue — that  an 
aspect  of  dull  and  unmeaning  wonderment  is  all  the  effect 
which  your  demonstrations  can  produce  upon  them — that 
no  access  can  be  opened  up  for  your  argument  to  under- 
standings which  look  as  if  they  were  overborne  by  the 
leaden  influences  of  a Boeotian  atmosphere — and  how  freez- 
ing the  mortification  is,  none  but  he  who  has  experienced  it 
can  tell,  when,  on  pleading  this  fine  and  eloquent  cause 
with  one  on  whom  wealth  has  conferred  its  elevation,  or 
over  whom  office  has  spread  its  sparkling  investiture,  it  is 
found  that  all  is  deafened  and  absorbed  by  a mind  steeped 
in  sordidness,  or  trenched  in  all  the  habits  and  in  all  the 
conceptions  of  an  invincible  plebeianism. 

But  let  me  take  up  this  part  of  my  narrative.  The 
benevolent  citizens  of  a former  age  have  thrown  an  illus- 
tration over  this  our  town  by  the  charities  they  have 
bequeathed  to  it,  and  they  have  devolved  upon  the  clergy 
much  of  the  management  and  much  of  the  patronage  of 
these  charities.  Now,  before  I proceed  a single  inch  farther 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


365 


in  my  statement,  I must  here  remind  you  that  the  question 
at  present  is  not  as  to  the  benefit  or  the  wisdom  of  any  one 
of  our  institutions — it  is  as  to  the  people  on  whom  should 
be  placed  the  burden  of  their  manifold  and  ever-recurring 
agency.  The  institutions  are  there,  and  no  breath,  either 
of  contempt  or  of  obloquy,  from  me,  shall  ever  tarnish  the 
memory  of  their  founders.  I join  issue  with  the  warmest 
and  most  enthusiastic  admirer  of  these  philanthropic  en- 
dowments, in  the  principle  that  the  business  of  every  one 
of  them  must  be  done — ay,  and  ought  to  be  done  most  duly, 
most  vigilantly,  most  conscientiously.  The  only  alternative 
betwixt  us — and  I call  your  distinct  attention  to  it — is  from 
what  quarter  of  society  are  the  doers  to  be  furnished? 
Whether  it  is  the  time  of  a clergyman,  or  the  time  of  a 
private  citizen,  that  is  to  be  put  into  requisition  for  this 
object?  Is  the  encroachment  to  be  made  on  the  public 
services  of  the  one,  or  on  the  business  and  relaxation,  and 
family  enjoyments  of  the  other  ? The  work  must  be  done  ; 
and  the  question  that  now  lies  in  the  ante-chamber  of  your 
mind,  and  for  which  I am  knocking  at  the  door,  and  solicit- 
ing you  to  step  forward  and  favor  me  with  a deliverance, 
is,  shall  it  be  done  at  the  expense  of  a great  public  interest, 
which  is  enough,  and  more  than  enough,  to  occupy  all  the 
laborers  who  are  attached  to  it  ? or  shall  it  be  done,  at  the 
expense  of  a little  ease  and  a little  conveniency,  by  another 
set  of  laborers  ? This  is  the  state  of  the  competition. 
These  are  the  real  terms  of  the  controversy,  of  which  I 
shall  keep  a firm  hold,  and  to  which,  at  every  step  in  the 
progress  of  the  argument,  I shall  never  cease  to  recall  you. 
I am  aware  of  the  clamoring  that  has  been  raised  upon 
this  subject,  and  of  the  false  glare  that  has  been  thrown 
around  it  to  bewilder  the  public  understanding,  and  how 
the  minister  who  proposes  to  retire  from  the  business  of  a 
charity  is  maligned  as  an  enemy  to  the  charity  itself,  and 
— as  if  he  had  no  other  field  of  usefulness  to  cultivate,  and 
no  other  walk  of  duty  to  move  in,  and  no  other  public 
service,  the  claims  of  which  laid  it  most  imperiously  upon 
him  to  husband  all  the  time  and  all  the  strength  that  he 


366 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


was  master  of — his  individual  withdrawment  from  some 
one  subordinate  employment,  which  hundreds  could  manage 
and  could  execute,  is  counted  upon  as  a dead  loss  to  the 
good  and  the  interest  of  society.  Now,  all  I aim  at  by 
this,  my  brethren,  is  to  summon  your  minds  to  the  exercise 
of  a just  calculation,  to  look  how  the  real  state  of  the  alter- 
native lies,  to  show  you  that  the  charity  itself  is  kept  in  all 
the  entireness  of  its  unbroken  claim  on  the  protection  of  the 
community — that  the  question  is  not  as  to  the  expediency 
of  the  endowment  at  all,  but  it  is  whether  for  its  required 
agency  men  are  to  be  secluded  from  a prior  field  of  benev- 
olent occupation,  or  men  are  to  be  taken,  for  the  time  that 
might  well  be  spared  from  business  and  recreation,  out  of 
the  ranks  of  ordinary  citizenship  ? Whether  the  public,  for 
the  presence  of  the  clergy  in  your  halls,  and  their  exertions 
in  your  committees  of  management,  is  to  lose  a portion  of 
those  peculiar  services  which,  from  the  days  of  apostolical 
institution,  they  are  destined  to  perform  ? or  whether  the 
public,  by  the  substituted  exertions  of  others,  is,  without  the 
necessity  of  so  cruel  and  so  injurious  a sacrifice  of  its  best 
interests,  to  reap  a clear  addition  to  the  tribute  which  it 
draws  from  the  spirit  and  the  patriotism  of  its  members  ? 
— in  one  word,  the  question  is,  whether  one  good  thing 
shall  be  done  for  society  at  the  expense  of  another  good 
thing,  or  both  shall  be  rendered  to  it  in  the  shape  of  two 
distinct  and  unmutilated  offerings  ? When  I tell  you,  my 
brethren,  that  I am  for  both,  and  that  the  whole  drift  of  my 
argument  is  on  the  side  of  two  offerings  instead  of  one,  you 
will  learn  how  to  appreciate  that  misconstruction  by  which 
the  retirement  of  clergymen  from  the  secularities  of  public 
benevolence  is  interpreted  into  a measure  of  hostility  against 
the  public  weal,  in  any  of  its  departments  ; and  should  you, 
my  friends,  ever  hear  this  good  evil-spoken  of,  you,  I trust, 
will  not  be  put  out  of  the  plainest  maxims  of  calculation  by 
such  an  outcry  as  this,  with  all  the  currency  that  has  been 
impressed  upon  it,  and  all  the  reinforcement  it  has  gotten 
from  the  ceaseless  quavers,  both  of  male  and  of  female  sen-- 
timentalism. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


367 


I trust,  therefore,  that  nothing  more  is  necessary  for 
making  good  this  part  of  my  argument,  than  a simple  com- 
putation of  the  time  by  which  the  service  of  these  various 
institutions  is  made  to  encroach  on  the  other  duties  and 
exercises  of  clergymen.  To  this  point  I cannot  speak  from 
personal  experience ; for  feeling  as  I have  all  along  done, 
that  the  requisitions  in  question  were  more  honored  in  the 
breach  than  the  observance,  I have  declined  a compliance 
with  them  ; but  I am  only  speaking,  you  will  observe,  of 
the  requisitions  of  bodily  attendance.  I am  only  speaking 
of  that  branch  of  the  duties,  the  performance  of  which  calls 
for  the  transferrence  of  his  person  from  one  place  to  anoth- 
er, and  from  the  drudgery  of  which  a man  can  defend  him- 
self by  the  simple  act,  or  rather  by  the  no  act,  of  sitting 
still.  I am  speaking  of  these  constant  draughts  upon  his 
bodily  presence,  which  if  he  made  it  a point  of  conscience 
to  answer,  he  behoved  week  after  week,  and  day  after  day, 
to  be  in  a state  of  endless  locomotion.  As  it  has  been  my 
habit  to  dishonor  these  draughts,  I cannot  furnish  you  with 
any  estimate  of  the  labor  they  exact,  from  my  actual  per- 
formance of  it ; but  if  I may  judge  from  the  exceeding  num- 
ber of  printed  circulars  which  come  in  by  hourly  arrival, 
and  keep  up  upon  me  at  all  times  a close  and  a well-support- 
ed assault  of  intimations,  I am  sure,  though  without  the  ex 
perience  of  any  actual  doings  in  this  way — I am  perfectly 
sure  that  were  I to  obey  the  every  call  of  these  winged 
messengers,  and  to  ply  my  w7eary  round  among  all  the 
committees  which  they  announce  to  me,  and  to  take  my 
every  turn  of  the  bidden  attendance,  and  to  give  my  mind 
to  every  subject  of  every  deliberation  we  are  expected  to 
share  in,  and  to  bow  my  neck  to  the  burden  of  all  the  direc- 
torships and  secretaryships  and  president  and  vice-presi- 
dentships which  are  habitually  laid  upon  us — then,  my  breth- 
ren, might  I retire  from  the  ministry  of  the  word  and  prayer 
altogether,  and  give  not  a single  half  hour  in  the  twelve- 
month  to  the  work  of  Sabbath  preparation,  and  bid  a stem 
refusal  to  the  every  imploring  call  of  the  sick  and  the  des- 
olate and  the  dying,  and  bid  a final  adieu  to  the  whole  busi- 


368 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


ness  of  family  and  household  ministrations — and,  after  all, 
on  the  strength  just  of  the  performances  that  I have  now 
specified,  just  of  the  duties  and  of  no  other  that  I have  now 
touched  upon,  just  of  all  that  bustle  and  variety  and  exer- 
cise, both  active  and  contemplative,  for  which  the  hospitals 
and  other  charities  of  the  place  throw  open  a most  ample 
field  to  those  who  choose  to  embark  upon  it  their  time  and 
their  energies — I might  in  this  way,  I assert,  sink  all  that 
originally  belonged  to  the  office  of  a minister  of  the  gospel, 
and  yet  earn  the  character  among  you  of  being  a most  la- 
borious, hard-wrought,  painstaking,  and  in  a great  variety 
of  ways  most  serviceable  minister. 

Now  suffer  me,  my  brethren,  at  this  point  in  my  narra- 
tive, most  respectfully  to  charge  you  with  a certain  taste 
and  tendency  of  your  affections,  which  to  me  is  a phenom- 
enon of  human  character  that  is  inexplicable.  What  I 
mean  is  the  strong  and  insatiable  relish  which  many  of  you 
feel,  whether  upon  the  occasions  of  public  business,  or  of 
social  intercourse,  for  the  personal  exhibition  of  your  cler- 
gyman. Now,  to  minister  gratification  to  this  said  relish, 
it  is  not  necessary  that  he  should  help  forward  the  business 
a single  inch  by  his  counsel  or  his  experience.  The  whole 
management  could  go  on  throughout  all  its  stages  as  well 
without  him  ; and  on  what  principle  it  is  that  his  mere 
bodily  presence  should  add  a single  whit  either  to  the 
beauty  or  the  completeness  of  the  operation,  is  altogether 
beyond  any  talent  of  comprehension  that  I am  possessed 
of.  But  whether  I understand  it  or  not,  the  peculiarity  to 
which  I am  adverting,  has,  you  must  permit  me  to  say,  an 
undoubted  existence  among  you ; and  to  humor  it,  all  that 
is  necessary  is  just  for  the  minister  to  lend  out  his  person 
to  the  demands  which  are  thus  made  on  it — and  though 
silent  all  the  while  as  a statue,  a mighty,  and  what  appears 
to  me  is  a mysterious  object,  appears  to  be  fulfilled  just  by 
his  being  there ; and  when  to  satisfy  my  impelled  curios- 
ity as  to  the  cause,  I have  ventured  to  put  i*  question  upon 
the  subject,  I never  yet  got  any  further  withii  the  limits  of  an 
adequate  answer,  than  merely — that  they  1 ted  to  see  him  ; 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


369 


and  thus  with  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  solacing  an  ap- 
petite, for  which  I am  sorry  I can  get  no  better  designation 
than  a doting  and  superstitious  fondness,  the  most  deep  and 
serious  in  vasions  are  practiced  every  day  on  the  great  prov- 
ince of  the  Christian  ministry.  And  every  spiritual  work- 
man in  our  establishment  is  surrounded  by  requisitions  with 
which,  if  he  were  to  comply  to  the  amount  of  a very  small 
fraction  indeed,  he  would  be  kept  in  a state  of  perpetual 
belaborment ; and  it  is  not  so  much  this  unwarrantable 
craving  after  the  man’s  bodily  appearance  that  I complain 
of,  for  I most  cheerfully  admit,  that  there  may  be  much  of 
the  milk  of  human  kindness  in  it ; and  if  the  cordialities  of 
human  feeling  have  any  play  at  all  within  his  bosom,  it  is 
quite  impossible  to  look  at  such  an  ingredient  as  this  with 
an  aspect  of  severity.  But  the  thing,  my  dear  brethren, 
which  grieves  me  is,  that  there  should  be  among  you  such 
a low  estimate  of  the  value  of  ministerial  time,  and  of  the 
substantial  importance  of  strictly  ministerial  exercises — 
that  because  you  do  not  see  him  at  his  professional  work, 
the  work  should  be  counted  so  light  and  easy  that  it  may 
be  wantonly  and  at  all  times  broken  in  upon — that  because 
he  is  not  compassed  about  with  the  insignia  of  visible  em- 
ployment, he  may  therefore  be  presumed  to  have  little  or 
no  employment  at  all ; and  all  this  has  helped,  it  has  most 
powerfully  and  materially  helped,  to  turn  the  stream  of  the 
demand  for  public  agency  away  from  the  haunts  of  ordi- 
nary merchandise,  and  to  bring  it  in  an  overwhelming  tide 
of  inundation  on  the  houses  of  your  clergymen — and  it  has 
well-nigh  swept  before  it  all  that  is  primitive  and  peculiar 
in  the  duties  of  clergymen.  It  has  helped — it  has  most 
mischievously  helped,  to  efface  the  sacredness  of  our  office, 
and  to  transform  him  who  fills  it  into  a man  of  mere  secu- 
larities.  It  has  helped — it  has  most  woefully  helped,  to  put 
the  religious  character  of  our  situation  into  the  back  ground 
of  public  contemplation  altogether,  and  to  substitute  in  its 
place  the  labor  of  such  services  as  others  should  have  ren- 
dered— the  weight  of  such  manifold  and  oppressive  drudg- 
eries as  others  should  have  borne. 


370 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


But  to  go  on  with  my  narrative.  I have  already  said 
much  of  the  interruption  and  the  labor  which  the  public 
charities  of  the  place  bring  along  with  them ; and  yet  1 
have  not  told  you  one  half  the  amount  of  it.  I have  only 
insisted  on  that  part  of  it  which  takes  a minister  from  his 
house,  and  from  which  the  minister,  at  the  expense  of  a lit- 
tle odium,  can  at  all  times  protect  himself,  by  the  deter- 
mined habit  of  sitting  immovable  under  every  call  and 
every  application.  All  that  arrangement  which  takes  a 
minister  away  from  his  house  may  be  evaded — but  how 
shall  he  be  able  to  extricate  himself  from  the  besetting  in- 
conveniences of  such  an  arrangement  as  gives  to  the  whole 
population  of  a neighborhood  a constant  and  ever-moving 
tendency  toward  the  house  of  the  minister?  The  patron- 
age with  which  I think  it  is  his  heavy  misfortune  to  be  en- 
cumbered, gives  him  a share  in  the  disposal  of  innumerable 
vacancies,  and  each  vacancy  gives  rise  to  innumerable  can- 
didates, and  each  candidate  is  sure  to  strengthen  his  chance 
of  success  by  stirring  up  a whole  round  of  acquaintances, 
who,  in  the  various  forms  of  written  and  of  personal  en- 
treaty, discharge  their  wishes  on  the  minister  in  the  shape 
of  innumerable  applications.  It  is  fair  to  observe,  how- 
ever, that  the  turmoil  of  all  this  electioneering  has  its  times 
and  its  seasons.  It  does  not  keep  by  one  in  the  form  of  a 
steady  monsoon.  It  comes  upon  him  more  in  the  resem- 
blance of  a hurricane  ; and  like  the  hurricanes  of  the  atmo- 
sphere, it  has  its  months  of  violence  and  its  intervals  of  pe- 
riodical cessation.  I shall  only  say,  that  when  it  does  come, 
the  power  of  contemplation  takes  to  herself  wings  and  flees 
away.  She  cannot  live  and  flourish  in  the  whirlwind  of 
all  that  noise  and  confusion  by  which  her  retreat  is  so  bois- 
terously agitated.  She  sickens  and  grows  pale  £t  every 
quivering  of  the  household  bell,  and  at  every  volley  from 
the  household  door,  by  which  the  loud  notes  of  impatience 
march  along  all  the  passages,  and  force  an  impetuous  an- 
nouncement into  every  chamber  of  the  dwelling-place. 
She  finds  all  this  to  be  too  much  for  her.  These  rude  and 
incessant  visitations  fatigue  and  exhaust  her,  and  at  length 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


371 


banish  her  entirely ; nor  will  she  suffer  either  force  or  flat- 
tery to  detain  her  in  a mansion  invaded  by  the  din  of  such 
turbulent  and  uncongenial  elements. 

But  though  I talk  of  cessations  and  intervals,  you  are 
not  to  suppose  that  there  are  ever  at  any  time  the  intervals 
of  absolute  repose.  There  is  a daily  visitation,  though  it 
is  only  at  particular  months  that  it  comes  upon  you  with 
all  the  vehemence  and  force  of  a tornado.  There  was  of 
late  an  unceasing  stream  of  people  passing  every  day 
through  the  house,  and  coming  under  the  review  of  the 
minister  on  their  road  to  the  supplies  of  ordinary  pauper- 
ism. This  formed  part  of  the  prescribed  conveyance  through 
which  each  of  them  trust  to  find  their  way  to  the  relief  that 
they  aspired  after.  This  always  secured  a levee  of  peti- 
tioners, and  kept  up  a perennial  flow  of  applications,  vary- 
ing in  rapidity  and  fullness  with  the  difficulty  of  the  times 
— but  never,  in  the  whole  course  of  my  experience,  sub- 
siding into  a rill  so  gentle  that  it  only  ministered  delight 
and  refreshment  to  the  bosom  by  the  peacefulness  of  its 
murmurs.  Oh,  no ! my  brethren — there  is  a something 
here  about  which  our  tearful  sons  and  daughters  of  poesy 
are  most  miserably  in  the  wrong.  I know  that  they  have 
got  many  fine  things  to  say  about  the  minister  of  a benefi- 
cent religion  having  a ready  tear  for  every  suffering,  and 
an  open  ear  for  every  cry,  and  room  in  his  house  for  every 
complainer,  and  room  in  his  heart  for  a distinct  exercise 
of  compassion  on  the  needs  and  the  distresses  of  every  af- 
flicted family,  and  an  open  door  through  which  the  represen- 
tations of  dejected  humanity  may  ever  find  a welcome  ad- 
mittance, and  a free  unoccupied  day  throughout  every  hour 
of  which  it  is  his  part  to  act  the  willing  friend  of  his  parish- 
ioners, and  to  yield  the  alacrity  of  his  immediate  attentions 
in  behalf  of  all  the  wants  and  all  the  wretchedness  that  is 
among  them.  Yes  ! all  this  ought  to  be  done,  and  agents 
should  be  found  for  the  doing  of  it.  But  the  minister  is  not 
the  man  who  can  do  it.  The  minister  is  not  the  man  who 
should  do  it.  And  beset  as  we  are  on  the  one  hand  by  a 
hard  and  a secular  generation,  who,  without  one  sigh  of 


372 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


remorse  could  see  every  minister  of  the  city  sinking  the 
spiritualities  of  his  office  under  the  weight  of  engagements 
which  they  themselves  will  not  touch  with  one  of  their 
fingers : and  deafened  as  we  are  on  the  other  hand  by  the 
outcry  of  puling  sentimentalists,  who,  without  thought  and 
without  calculation,  would  realize  all  the  folly  and  all  the 
fondness  of  their  fancy  sketches  upon  us,  I utterly  refuse 
the  propriety  of  all  these  services — and  yet  proclaiming 
myself  the  firm,  the  ardent,  the  devoted  friend  of  the  poor, 
do  I assert  these  advocates  of  theirs  to  be  the  blind  sup- 
porters of  a system  which  has  aggravated  both  the  moral 
and  the  physical  wretchedness  of  a most  cruelly  neglected 
population. 

But  I must  bring  my  narrative  to  a close.  There  are 
many  other  miscellaneous  items  of  employment  which  I 
have  neither  time  nor  recollection  for  enumerating.  Many 
of  the  admittances  into  the  charity  schools  of  the  place  are 
granted  upon  the  recommendation  of  a minister.  Many 
statements  about  the  circumstances  of  people,  as  if  he  were 
at  all  a fit  hand  for  an  office  so  invidious  and  so  indelicate, 
will  only  be  received  on  the  attestation  of  a minister.  The 
petitions  for  exemption  from  taxes  must  be  signed  by  a min- 
ister. The  petitions  for  exemption  from  road-money  must 
be  signed  by  a minister.  The  former  of  these  two  last  is 
an  imposition  laid  on  us  by  Government — the  layer  is  a 
county  or  a municipal  imposition.  But,  indeed,  it  is  not  of 
much  consequence  to  advert  to  this  distinction.  Our  state 
and  our  provincial  and  our  city  rulers  are  all  equally  de- 
faulters in  this  respect — that  they  have  all  a most  invincible 
appetite  for  the  aid  and  information  of  the  minister — that 
from  every  quarter,  whether  of  civil  or  of  political  regula- 
tion, there  is  a constant  tendency  to  draw  upon  the  time 
and  the  services  of  the  minister — that  this  is  fast  ripening 
into  all  the  stability  of  a familiar  and  a customary  practice 
— that  every  year  is  separating  the  clergy  of  our  Estab- 
lished Church  by  a wider  interval  from  all  the  proper  and* 
peculiar  duties  of  their  employment — and  that  up  from  the 
high  court  of  Parliament  down  to  the  humblest  corporations 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


373 


of  the  land,  there  is  a general  and  an  alarming  process  now 
in  full  operation  to  transform  and  to  secularize,  and  I add, 
most  woefully  to  degrade  us. 

I will  not  speak  at  length  just  now  about  the  mischievous 
effect  of  all  this  on  the  great  mass  of  our  population.  We 
hold  out  in  their  eyes  a totally  different  aspect  from  the 
ministers  of  a former  age.  We  are  getting  every  year 
more  assimilated  in  look  and  in  complexion  to  your  survey- 
ors, and  your  city  clerks,  and  your  justices,  and  your  dis- 
tributors of  stamps,  and  all  those  men  of  place  who  have  to 
do  with  the  people  in  the  matters  of  civil  or  of  municipal 
agency.  Every  feature  in  the  sacredness  of  our  character 
is  wearing  down  amid  all  the  stir  and  hurry  and  hard-driv- 
ing of  this  manifold  officiality.  And  thus  it  is  that  our  par- 
ishioners have  lost  sight  of  us  altogether  as  their  spiritual 
directors,  and  seldom  or  never  come  to  us  upon  any  spirit- 
ual errand  at  all — but  taking  us  as  they  are  led  to  do  by 
the  vicious  system  that  is  now  in  progressive  operation — 
taking  us  as  they  are  led  by  that  system  to  find  us,  they 
are  ever  and  anon  overwhelming  us  with  consultations 
about  their  temporalities — and  the  whole  flavor  of  the  spir- 
itual relation  between  a pastor  and  his  flock  is  dissipated 
and  done  away.  There  is  none  of  the  unction  of  Christian- 
ity at  all  in  the  intercourse  we  hold  with  them  ; and  every- 
thing that  relates  to  the  soul  and  to  the  interests  of  eternity, 
and  to  the  religious  cure  of  themselves  and  of  their  families, 
is  elbowed  away  by  the  work  of  filling  up  their  schedules, 
and  advising  them  about  their  moneys,  and  shuffling  along 
with  them  amongst  the  forms  and  the  papers  of  a most  in- 
tricate correspondence.  Time,  and  the  concerns  and  the 
managements  of  time,  have  left  no  room  for  other  conver- 
sation ; and  our  poor  perishing  and  misled  people  almost 
never  think  of  bending  their  footsteps  towards  us  on  any 
other  object  than  that  of  mere  business.  But  upon  this  ob- 
ject they  do  crowd  around  us  at  a rate  that  is  incalculable  ; 
and  after  having  enumerated  the  specific  purposes,  for  which 
in  compliance  with  our  Government  and  city  regulations 
they  are  led  to  transact  with  their  minister,  you  are*  now 


374 


THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  SECULARIZED. 


prepared  to  understand  how  the  general  effect  of  the  whole 
system  is  to  make  them  look  up  to  their  minister  as  a man 
of  great  wisdom  and  information  about  all  the  secularities 
they  have  to  do  with,  and  that  he  is  competent  to  furnish 
them  with  the  best  advice  under  every  imaginable  difficulty 
■ — and  that  surely  they  cannot  trust  so  firmly  to  any  quarter 
as  to  the  ready  friendship  and  the  well-exercised  discern- 
ment of  their  minister.  And  thus  it  is  that  the  habit  is  now 
formed  of  repairing  to  him  with  the  strangest  variety  of 
topics,  on  which  he  is  expected  to  deliberate  and  to  coun- 
sel them  ; and  this  ultimate  effect  of  the  system  I have  now 
been  attempting  to  expose,  forms  a heavy  addition  to  all 
those  distractions  which  harrow  up  the  mind,  to  all  those 
annoyances  which  surround  the  person,  to  all  those  merci- 
less intrusions  which  profane  the  every  retirement,  and  re- 
duce to  a thing  of  shreds  and  patches  the  every  intellectual 
process  of  your  ministers. 


SERMON  XXIV. 


[Preached  at  Glasgow  in  September,  1816.] 

MATTHEW  V.  38-48. 

■ Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a tooth  for  a tooth  : but  I 
say  unto  you,  That  ye  resist  not  evil ; but  whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right 
cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also.  And  if  any  man  will  sue  thee  at  the  law,  and  take 
away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also.  And  whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go 
a mile,  go  with  him  twain.  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee  ; and  from  him  that  would 
borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou  away.  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shall 
love  thy  neighbor,  and  hate  thine  enemy.  But  I say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemies, 
bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which 
despitefully  use  you,  and  persecute  you  ; that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven : for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and 
sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  For  if  you  love  them  which  love  you,  what 
reward  have  ye  7 do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same  7 And  if  ye  salute  your  brethren 
only,  what  do  ye  more  than  others  7 do  not  even  the  publicans  so  7 Be  ye  therefore 
perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect.” 

There  is  something  in  all  these  precepts  that  is  apt  to 
startle  and  to  perplex  us.  The  selfishness  of  man,  which 
naturally  is  by  far  the  most  sensitive  part  of  his  constitution, 
takes  immediate  alarm  at  them,  and  would  recoil  from  a 
morality  in  the  observance  of  which  it  conceives  that  all 
the  securities  of  justice  behoved  to  be  broken  up,  and  that 
the  interest  of  every  scrupulous  Christian  would  be  thrown 
open  and  defenseless  against  the  inroad  of  a thousand  pos- 
sibilities. If  I am  fanatic  enough  to  give  to  every  one  who 
chooseth  to  ask  of  me,  I shall  soon  become  as  helpless  and 
as  indigent  as  any  of  them.  If  in  this  age  of  splendid  en- 
terprises I accede  to  the  demand  of  every  borrower,  when 
— fully  bent  on  the  airy  magnificence  of  their  own  specula- 
tions— so  many  are  to  be  found  who  without  one  sigh  of 
remorse  will  put  the  property  of  others  to  the  most  hazard- 
ous exposures — why,  at  this  rate  I shall  soon  exchange  that 
tranquillity  which  arises  from  the  consciousness  of  all  that 
belongs  to  me  being  in  safe  keeping,  for  a state  of  fearful 
brooding,  anxious  insecurity.  If  I resist  not  the  unfair  en- 


376 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


croachments  of  a neighbor,  but  rather  than  go  to  law  make 
a surrender  to  him  of  the  full,  and  more  than  the  full,  of  his 
iniquitous  demand,  I shall  soon  become  a prey  to  the  rapa- 
city and  the  fraudulence  of  all  who  are  around  me.  If  I 
make  no  head  against  the  urgency  of  others  plying  their 
own  selfish  exactions  on  my  time  and  my  conveniency,  I 
shall  soon  meet  with  a number  of  people  who  will  triumph 
over  the  facility  of  my  compliances,  and  would  reduce  me 
to  a state  of  humble  and  truckling  subserviency  on  all  the 
wanton  variety  of  their  inclinations.  If  I resent  not  the  in- 
dignity of  a blow,  I shall  throw  myself  open  to  every  deg- 
radation of  insult  and  of  violence.  And  lastly,  if  I shall  ac- 
complish so  romantic  and  so  seemingly  impracticable  a thing 
as  to  love  my  enemies,  I invite  their  hostility — I set  up  in 
my  own  person  a mark  for  all  the  attempts  of  malignity 
and  injustice — I bid  the  worst  and  the  basest  of  mer>  trample 
with  impunity  upon  me.  Nor  do  I conceive  how,  were  I 
to  pitch  my  aim  from  this  moment  at  a morality  so  remote 
from  all  that  the  eye  witnesses  of  human  life  and  human 
performance,  I could  be  upheld  for  a single  month  in  any  of 
the  comforts  or  any  of  the  securities  of  my  earthly  existence. 

In  this  way  do  you  not  perceive  how  the  mind  of  him 
who  summons  up  all  these  anticipations,  aftd  dwells  upon 
them  with  such  feelings  of  disquietude  and  alarm,  may  in 
fact  be  thrown  into  an  open  and  determined  revolt  against 
the  authority  of  these  requirements  altogether?  Do  you 
not  conceive  how  his  anger,  and  his  urgent  sense  of  inter- 
est, and  his  impatience  under  the  provocation  of  injustice, 
and  his  dread  lest  the  forbearance  laid  upon  him  in  this 
passage  should  invite  the  repetition  of  it — do  you  not  con- 
ceive how  all  this  might  raise  up  the  feelings  and  resent- 
ments and  purposes  of  the  inner  man  to  an  actual  warfare 
again'st  the  Lawgiver  of  the  New  Testament?  Oh!  my 
brethren,  are  there  none  here  present  who,  with  the  lustei 
of  many  graceful  accomplishments  upon  them,  utterly  re- 
fuse all  homage  to  the  pacific  and  the  yielding  virtues  which 
are  here  recommended  ? We  do  not  question  their  integ- 
rity— we  grant  it  of  them  that  they  have  passed  through 


CHRISTIAN  MEKKNESS. 


377 


the  manifold  transactions  of  business  without  the  flaw  of  a 
single  impeachment  upon  their  reputation — we  know  how 
proudly  they  would  disdain  the  temptation  which  offered 
to  draw  them  aside  from  the  onward  line  of  truth  and  of 
rectitude.  But  with  all  this  stirring  sense  of  honor  which 
they  carry  in  their  bosoms,  are  there  none  who  carry  the 
stirrings  of  a proud  and  vindictive  jealousy  along  with  it? 
We  allow  that  in  the  heart  of  many  an  acquaintance  there 
is  a high-minded  principle,  in  virtue  of  which  he  moves 
through  society  without  the  taint  upon  his  character  of  any 
one  suspicious  imputation.  But  surely,  if  it  be  through  the 
working  of  the  same  high-minded  principle  that  he  disdains 
an  affront,  and  has  no  sufferance  for  an  injury,  and  gives 
impetuous  way  to  all  the  movements  of  a quick  and  restive 
indignation,  do  you  not  see  how  possible  it  is  that  a quality 
or  a temper  of  the  soul  may  both  bear  the  name  and  receive 
the  homage  of  a virtue  in  the  exercise  of  which  God  is  de- 
throned from  the  sovereignty  which  belongs  to  Him ; and 
have  we  not  here  an  example  of  that  thing  which  is  highly 
esteemed  among  men  being  in  God’s  sight  an  abomination  ? 

But  the  heart  of  man  must  find  some  other  plea  to  satisfy 
it  than  its  own  willfulness,  and  amid  all  his  resentful  feelings 
and  all  his  selfish  alarms  is  he  ever  seeking  to  put  on  the 
semblance  of  principle  — and  in  the  very  case  that  we  are 
now  putting  does  he  affect  an  apprehension  for  the  interests 
of  virtue — and  he  will  link  his  own  cause  with  the  cause  of 
society  at  large — and  he  will  tell  us  that  the  unreserved  habit 
of  giving  which  the  Gospel  recommends  would  unhinge  the 
whole  system  and  order  of  the  community ; that  were 
Christians  to  bring  these  various  precepts  to  a literal  and 
unreserved  fulfillment,  all  industry  would  be  suspended, 
and  all  justice  be  trampled  under  loot,  and  an  unprincipled 
violence  would  walk  at  large  over  the  face  of  the  country ; 
and  that  under  this  extravagant  doctrine  of  non-resistance 
all  the  mounds  of  public  and  personal  security  would  be 
swept  away,  and  that  the  painful  spectacle  would  ever  be 
offering  itself  of  sordid  and  unrelenting  men  carrying  it 
with  a triumphant  impunity  over  the  weak  but  conscientious 


378 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


disciples  of  a religion  which  taught  them  to  bend  submis- 
sively to  every  imposition,  and  to  yield  an  unquestioning 
compliance  with  every  requirement. 

In  this  way  you  can  conceive  how  selfishness  may  bor- 
row to  herself  something  like  the  color  of  virtue — and  in 
her  active  resistance  to  the  virtues  of  the  text,  she  may 
have  something  at  least  like  the  semblance  of  public  con- 
sideration to  rest  upon,  and  to  save  the  appearance  of  con- 
sistency with  this  express  passage  of  revelation,  she  will 
turn  that  branch  of  Christian  morality  of  which  it  treats 
into  a question  of  degrees — and  sitting  in  judgment  on  this 
question,  she  will  ask  in  how  far  we  are  to  understand  that 
a literal  obedience  should  be  yielded,  or  at  what  precise 
point  in  the  scale  of  hardship  and  privation  it  is  right  for  a 
disciple,  of  the  New  Testament  to  make  his  stand  ? And 
is  there  no  hazard,  think  you,  in  these  circumstances,  that 
a man  will  carry  his  patience  and  his  meekness  and  his 
long-suffering  just  as  far,  and  no  farther,  than  suits  the  will- 
fulness of  his  own  inclination,  and  that  full  license  will  be 
given  to  the  spontaneous  movements  of  anger  and  jealousy 
— and  that  by  the  weight  of  this  combined  sophistry,  into 
which  the  will  and  the  reason  have  thrown  their  respective 
elements,  the  bidden  duties  of  the  text  will  be  completely 
overborne — and  that  thus,  after  all,  the  counsel  of  the  man’s 
own  heart  and  the  sight  of  his  own  eyes,  will  carry  it  over 
the  will  of  God,  so  as  that  the  authority  of  these  His  precepts 
shall  be  set  aside  altogether,  and  we  His  subjects  occupied 
with  the  exceptions  that  we  have  mustered  up  against  the 
rule  which  He  has  delivered  to  us,  shall  lose  sight  of  the 
rule  itself  as  the  matter  of  our  most  strenuous  and  diligent 
and  pointed  observations. 

Now,  I count  it  a high  point  of  Christian  discipleship  that 
when  we  sit  down  to  the  book  of  God’s  revelation,  we  should 
do  it  with  the  sense  upon  our  hearts  that  we  are  in  a state 
of  entire  pupilage — that  every  commandment  which  issues 
from  this  book  should  carry  the  influence  of  its  own  direct 
and  obvious  authority  along  with  it — that  for  us  to  summon 
up  in  opposition  to  these  commandments  either  the  alarms 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


379 


of  selfishness,  or  any  general  speculations  of  ours  about  the 
machinery  of  public  and  political  interest,  is  to  eye  this 
book  with  the  authority  of  judges,  rather  than  to  drink  in 
its  lessons  with  the  spirit  and  the  acquiescence  of  little 
children — that  at  this  rate,  every  obligation  of  the  New 
Testament  morality  may  be  paralyzed,  and  every  require- 
ment be  dethroned  from  the  sovereignty  which  belongs  to 
it,  and  we,  instead  of  acting  our  bidden  part  in  that  great 
system  which  it  is  for  God  alone  to  survey  in  all  the  variety 
of  its  bearings,  and  to  adjust  throughout  all  the  intricacy 
of  its  movements,  may  be  offering  to  thwart  the  divine  will 
by  some  paltry  interest  of  our  own,  or  by  some  no  less 
paltry  but  presumptuous  theory  to  embarrass  these  bene- 
ficent plans  of  administration  which  the  divine  wisdom  has 
conceived,  and  which  the  divine  power  will  carry  into  sure 
effect  by  the  instrumentality,  not  of  man’s  skillful  corrections, 
but  of  man’s  humble  and  unresisting  obedience. 

The  wisdom  of  man  may  throw  a mistiness  around  the 
declarations  of  the  will  and  the  counsel  of  God  ; but  surely 
if  all  the  attempts  of  human  wisdom  to  restrain  or  to  qualify 
be  warded  away  from  the  passage  now  before  us,  there 
cannot  be  devised  a statement  of  meaning  more  perspicuous 
or  more  fitted  to  find  a direct  and  lucid  conveyance  into 
the  plainest  understanding.  Just  conceive  a man  resolved 
to  bind  himself  hand  and  foot  to  the  authority  of  God,  and 
that  he  shall  neither  flinch  from  any  one  bidding,  however 
it  may  cross  and  gall  his  inclination,  nor  suffer  himself  to 
be  bewildered  away  by  any  sophistry  whatever  from  the 
obvious  signification  of  the  verses  which  have  now  been 
submitted  to  you — and  is  it  possible  for  him  to  miss  the 
sense  of  precepts  so  clearly  and  prosaically  laid  down,  as 
— Resist  not  evil,  and  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee,  and 
Love  thine  enemies,  and  Do  good  to  them  that  hate  you, 
and  Pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute 
you  ? 

The  principle  of  being  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  follow 
the  will  of  God,  is  the  main  and  the  essential  element  of 
sanctification.  A man  possessed  of  this  principle  will  fear- 


380 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


lessly  embark  himself  on  the  line  of  entire  and  universal 
obedience.  He  will  look  upon  this  as  his  alone  business, 
and  will  prosecute  no  by-end  whatever  that  can  at  all 
distract  him  from  this  only  path  to  a blissful  eternity.  I 
know  that  at  the  outset  of  this  path  his  brooding  fancy  may 
aggravate  the  many  hardships  he  will  have  to  encounter — • 
ay,  and  if  he  has  not  wound  up  his  resolves  to  that  great 
and  initiatory  principle  in  the  life  of  a Christian,  of  forsak- 
ing all,  and  being  willing  to  surrender  all  at  the  require- 
ment of  the  one  Master  he  has  chosen,  he  will  either  shrink 
from  Christianity  altogether,  or  take  up  with  a diluted  and 
a compromised  Christianity,  in  the  service  of  which  he  will 
never  earn  the  reward  of  him  who  cleaves  with  full' purpose 
of  heart  unto  his  God.  Be  assured,  my  brethren,  that 
there  is  a corroding  worm  throughout  the  whole  system 
of  your  religious  concerns,  if  there  be  not  a singleness  of 
aim  and  a singleness  of  desire,  and  an  unbroken  principle 
on  your  part  implicitly  to  follow  wherever  the  word  of  God 
shall  lead  the  way  ; and  if  you  offer  to  except  or  to  modify 
any  obvious  precept  of  His,  whether  it  be  on  the  impulse 
of  an  alarmed  selfishness,  or  on  some  presumptuous  specu- 
lation of  your  own  about  the  general  interest  of  a world 
which  it  is  for  Him  alone  to  manage  and  superintend — 
you  just  make  a rebellious  deviation  from  the  course  that 
He  has  prescribed  to  you,  and  you  insert  such  a flaw  into 
your  own  personal  Christianity  as  violates  the  simplicity,  and 
must  eventually  mar  the  success  of  the  whole  enterprise. 

But  if  the  alarm  be  extravagant,  and  beyond  the  truth 
of  the  case,  would  it  not  be  well  to  reduce  and  to  quiet  it? 
Surely,  in  the  work  of  counting  the  cost  of  the  tower  before 
you  sit  down  to  build  it,  if  it  be  wrong  to  make  a flattering 
estimate,  it  is  also  wrong  to  make  an  exaggerated  one  of 
the  whole  expense  and  difficulty  of  the  undertaking.  It  is 
true  that  whatever  the  expense  be,  you  should  have  an 
honest  and  entire  readiness  both  to  do  and  to  suffer  all 
things  which  you  think,  upon  your  clear  understanding  of 
the  will  of  God,  ought  to  be  done  and  ought  to  be  suffered. 
But  fancy,  as  I said  before,  may  magnify  the  suffering; 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


381 


and  is  it  not  right  to  reduce  the  exaggerations  of  fancy — 
when  she  conjures  up  ideal  pictures,  and  makes  them  float 
before  the  eye  of  the  mind  in  such  a way  as  to  terrify  and 
disturb  it  ? Fancy  is  ever  looking  on  to  the  possibilities 
of  future  life — and  as  she  employs  herself  in  framing  cases 
where  disgrace  and  poverty  would  be  the  sure  effect  of  a 
literal  adherence  to  the  commandments  of  God,  she  may 
cause  the  man  on  whom  she  works  to  falter  from  his  pur- 
pose of  observing  them.  In  other  words,  she  may  beset 
the  commencement  of  his  path  as  a Christian  with  such 
temptations  as  he  has  not  strength  for ; and  is  it  not  right 
to  allay  the  force  of  these  temptations?  To  enter  this 
path  with  any  drawback  whatever  on  the  purpose  of  doing 
simply  and  entirely  what  God  bids  you,  is  to  enter  upon  it 
with  such  a double,  such  an  ambiguous,  such  a broken  and 
divided  sentiment  within  you,  as  to  make  a wrong  outset, 
and  as  will  never  land  you  in  a prosperous  termination. 
If  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light. 
But  this  sad  work  of  mustering  up  exceptions,  and  brooding 
over  the  fancied  impossibilities  of  the  bidden  obedience, 
and  grafting  our  own  moderate  and  practicable  system  on 
the  unbending  requisitions  of  the  great  Lawgiver,  and 
garbling  the  record  of  His  counsel,  and  modifying  the 
plain  and  undeniable  sense  of  His  communications,  and 
compounding  matters  between  His  express  authority  and 
our  clinging  attachment  to  the  ease  and  interest  of  the 
world — I say  this  work  of  secret  hypocrisy,  which  carries 
in  it  a flinching  of  purpose  from  the  will  of  God,  under  the 
prospect  of  some  future  and  imagined  possibility,  is  just  as 
hostile  to  our  state  as  Christians,  as  if  the  possibility  were 
turned  into  a fact,  and  there  were  on  our  part  a flinching 
of  performance  from  the  will  of  God.  In  the  one  case  you 
have  a palpable  deficiency  of  obedience  in  the  outer  man 
— in  the  other  case,  a concealed  reservation  of  purpose  in 
the  inner  man,  bespeaking  such  a radical  unfairness  of 
heart  as  is  sure  to  bewilder  all  our  perceptions  of  divine 
truth,  to  give  an  unhingement  to  all  our  principles,  to  darken 
our  views  as  well  as  to  vitiate  and  enfeeble  our  practice 


382 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


to  depose  conscience  from  its  supremacy,  to  unsettle  our 
faith  in  that  testimony  which  we  are  doing  the  uttermost  to 
resist  and  to  mutilate — and,  in  one  word,  by  provoking  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  put  all  His  counsels  and  all  His  illumina- 
tions away  from  us. 

This  propensity  of  the  mind  to  run  on  to  the  conceivable 
cases  of  future  history,  and  to  dwell  on  the  circumstances 
in  which  an  entire  and  literal  obedience  would  be  so  pain- 
ful and  so  inconvenient,  and  so  hard  in  its  consequences, 
acts  certainly  as  a temptation,  disposing  us  to  set  aside  the 
authority  of  the  commandment.  Now,  it  is  observable,  that 
our  Saviour,  even  at  the  very  outset  of  His  addresses  to 
those  whom  He  called  upon,  said  something  to  alleviate 
the  force  of  this  temptation.  He  occasionally  said  what 
had  the  effect  of  mitigating  their  apprehensions  of  all  they 
had  to  lose  and  of  all  they  had  to  suffer  in  the  business  of 
following  after  Him.  He  did  not  call  His  disciples  to  take 
His  yoke  upon  them  without  telling  them  at  the  same  time 
that  His  yoke  was  easy  and  His  burden  was  light.  He  did 
not  tell  them  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  right- 
eousness, without  telling  at  the  same  time  that  all  other 
things  should  be  added  unto  them.  He  did  not  tell  them 
that  no  man  could  be  His  disciple  who  did  not  forsake  all, 
without  also  telling  them  that  every  man  who  forsook  all 
should  receive  an  hundred  fold,  even  in  this  life,  for  what 
he  had  relinquished.  Christians  must  be  in  readiness  to 
give  up  all  for  eternity  ; but  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the 
apostles  did  not  tell  this  to  their  disciples  without  also  tell- 
ing them  that,  in  point  of  fact,  they  should  meet  with  an 
abundance  of  temporal  enjoyments  scattered  along  the  road 
that  leads  to  eternity.  Paul  tells  his  Christian  friends  by 
his  example  that  they  should  count  not  their  life  dear  unto 
them — but  he  also  tells  them  that  godliness  has  the  prom- 
ise of  the  life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to 
come ; and  while  all  of  them  are  made  to  know  that  the 
commandments  of  God  lie  most  indispensably  upon  them, 
they  are  also  made  to  know  that  these  commandments  are 
not  grievous. 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


38? 


In  pursuance  of  this  method,  let  me  not  attempt  any  de- 
duction from  the  authority  of  any  obvious  commandment; 
let  me  not  paralyze  unto  the  death  any  one  of  the  precepts 
before  us,  all  of  which  have  a living  power  of  obligation ; 
let  me  not  dilute  into  utter  insignificancy  all  that  is  here 
said  about  the  duties  of  liberality  and  forbearance  and  re- 
sistance, and  the  love  we  should  bear  to  the  injurious  and 
to  enemies ; but  let  me  conceive  an  honest  disciple  to  act 
upon  the  sense  and  the  unadulterated  impression  of  this 
passage,  and  gathering  our  anticipations  of  his  future  his- 
tory from  the  Bible  of  God  and  the  observations  of  man, 
we  are  convinced  that  in  the  actual  exercise  of  the  virtues 
here  recommended,  he  will  find  how  much  the  terrors  of 
an  alarmed  imagination  outstrip  the  realities  of  living  ex- 
perience. 

You  will  therefore  indulge  me  in  this  way  of  it.  Instead 
of  entering  directly  into  the  business  of  explaining,  or  of 
enforcing  these  precepts,  I meet  at  the  very  outset  of  my 
attention  to  them  with  a kind  of  repulsive  suspicion  stirring 
in  my  own  heart,  and  distinctly  observable  in  the  fears  and 
countenance  of  others,  about  the  extent  of  their  obligation, 
and  the  practicability  of  their  following.  I make  it  my 
first  and  my  foremost  object  to  beat  down  this  suspicion, 
to  grapple  with  the  difficulty  which  flashes  upon  me  at  the 
very  first  footstep  of  my  being  introduced  into  this  field  of 
contemplation,  and,  if  possible,  to  get  it  disposed  of — to  do 
what  I have  already  told  you  was  done  by  Christ  and  His 
apostles — to  alleviate  the  force  of  the  temptation  which 
meets  you,  not  at  the  time  when  you  are  doing  the  require- 
ments of  this  passage,  not  at  the  time  when  you  are  ren- 
dering to  them  the  obedience  of  your  actual  performances, 
but  at  the  time  when  you  should  be  rendering  to  them  the 
obedience  of  your  honest  and  unreserved  purposes — to 
clear  away  the  obstacle  which  lies  on  the  road  to  that  sin- 
gleness of  aim  and  that  full  determination  of  loyalty  to  the 
God  of  heaven,  without  which  the  inner  man  is  virtually 
and  substantially  in  an  attitude  of  rebellion.  This  I con- 
ceive to  be  a right  and  a useful  preparation  for  the  subse 


384 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


quent  train  of  my  argument,  and  I trust  you  will  find  that 
when  laboring,  even  on  this  preparatory  ground,  a some- 
thing might  be  met  with  to  throw  light  on  the  passage,  and 
help  to  enforce  and  to  illustrate  the  duties  which  are  here 
laid  down  to  us. 

In  pursuance  of  this,  let  me  take  up  one  of  the  exactions 
which  are  before  us,  even  the  one  by  which  we  are  re- 
quired when  smitten  on  the  one  cheek  to  turn  the  other 
also.  The  barrier  which  I am  attempting  to  remove,  and 
which  lies  in  the  way  of  an  entire  purpose  to  give  to  this 
precept  an  entire  obedience,  is  the  fearful  suspicion,  that  if 
I resent  not  the  indignity  of  the  blow  I shall  throw  myself 
open  to  every  degradation  of  insult  and  of  violence.  Now, 
if  I can  remove  this  barrier,  I shall  clear  away  from  the 
commencement  of  the  path  of  practical  obedience  a temp- 
tation which,  if  yielded  to,  will  vitiate  that  commencement. 
I shall  remove  a temptation  in  virtue  of  which  a man’s  in- 
itiatory attitude  may  become  a wrong  one.  I shall  re- 
move a temptation  which,  by  poisoning  and  diluting  the 
purposes  of  the  mind,  will  infallibly  impair  even  the  visible 
aspect  of  the  man’s  obedience,  and  take  away  from  the 
entireness  of  his  outward  performances.  I am  not  at  pres- 
ent standing  on  the  high  ground,  that  even  though  every 
species  of  degradation  and  violence  should  be  the  result  of 
an  unexcepted  adherence  to  the  will  of  God,  they  form  but 
a small  surrender  when  put  by  the  side  of  a reversion  so 
splendid  as  an  eternity  of  secure  and  peaceful  enjoyment. 
I am  not  admitting  the  justness  of  this  fearful  anticipation, 
and  then  closing  with  you  on  the  principle,  that  though  it 
were  realized,  that  would  merely  be  laying  upon  you  the 
light  affliction  which  is  but  for  a moment,  and  is  as  nothing 
to  the  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  This  is  firm 
and  solid  ground  at  all  times  to  stand  upon ; but  in  the 
present  instance  it  is  not  necessary  to  repair  to  it.  Instead 
of  meeting  the  fearful  anticipation  in  this  way,  I altogether 
refuse  the  justness  of  it.  I deny  the  fact  that  degradation 
and  violence  will  ensue  to  any  Christian  from  his  passive 
reception  of  a blow,  submitted  to  under  the  force  of  a re- 


/ 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


385 


ligious  principle,  and  borne  with  an  uncomplaining  meek- 
ness of  temper,  and  at  the  same  time  with  that  elevated 
sense  of  duty  which  spreads  an  aspect  of  sacredness  over 
the  whole  of  his  observable  history.  If  you  are  kept  from 
the  full  purpose  of  submitting  yourself  to  the  precept  in 
question  by  an  apprehension  of  the  indignities  which  the 
fulfillment  of  it  might  heap  upon  you,  then  I might  say 
that,  however  well  founded  the  apprehension  should  be,  it 
is  not  enough  to  dissipate  the  obligation  of  a mandate  is- 
sued from  the  legislature  of  heaven  in  terms  of  such  round 
and  unqualified  deliverance  as  are  employed  in  the  text. 
This  is  what  I might  say ; but  I am  enabled  to  say  more — 
that  the  temptation  is  a mere  fictitious  image  conjured  up 
by  the  fancy  of  man,  ever  breeding  some  extravagance  or 
>ther  to  agitate  and  disturb  him.  Or  go  to  the  essential 
fountain  of  the  matter — that  is,  to  the  fabrication  of  him  in. 
whom  the  power  of  misleading  and  deluding  the  children 
of  Adam  is  vested  for  a season,  even  the  father  of  lies, 
whose  delight  it  is  to  lay  some  specious  imposition  or  other 
before  the  eye  of  the  mind,  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  in 
upon  the  universality  of  its  purposes,  and  painfully  disturb- 
ing its  aspirations,  in  its  initiatory  endeavors  after  a pure 
and  holy  and  complete  and  withal  an  unexcepted  obe- 
dience. Now,  my  brethren,  do  you  come  forward  and  ask 
me  what  it  is  that  entitles  me  to  meet  the  apprehension  in 
question  by  such  a direct  and  immediate  denial  ? I again 
repeat  my  contradiction  to  it,  and  I avow  that  I have  at 
this  moment  as  many  arguments  upon  which  to  rest  the 
evidence  of  this  contradiction  as  there  are  human  hearts 
and  human  countenances  before  me.  I am  supposing  an 
humble  and  devoted  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  with  all 
the  due  meekness  of  the  Christian  temper,  and  all  the  lofty 
determination  of  Christian  principle,  passively  to  take  the 
blow  that  has  been  inflicted  on  him  ; and  the  question  I 
have  to  put  is — where  shall  we  find  a man  who,  under  such 
impressive  circumstances  as  these,  will  be  monster  enough 
to  repeat  that  blow?  Sure  I am,  that  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  the  random  and  indiscriminate  multitude  before 
VOL.  VI. R 


386 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


me,  there  is  not  a single  individual  can  be  fixed  upon  who 
could  thus  brutally  wanton  it  over  the  meek  and  unresist- 
ing attitude  of  the  saint  who  stood  before  him.  Oh,  no  ! 
my  brethren,  there  is  not  one  of  you  who,  under  the  power 
of  that  moral  recoil  which  would  come  upon  your  heart, 
and  bear  down  all  the  vindictive  purposes  that  stirred  in 
it — there  is  not  one  of  you  who  would  not  feel  as  irresisti- 
bly held  back  from  the  act  of  repetition  as  if  the  lifted  arm 
were  arrested  in  its  midway  course  by  a stroke  of  palsy, 
or  the  God  of  heaven,  interposing  at  the  critical  moment  in 
behalf  of  His  faithful  servant,  had,  by  a single  miracle, 
willed  all  its  energies  away  from  it.  Could  a single  man 
be  fixed  upon  who  understood  not  what  this  recoil  was, 
and  had  the  atrocity  of  character  to  inflict  the  second  blow 
on  the  cheek  that  was  turned  to  receive  it,  the  cry  of  exe- 
cration from  all  his  fellows  would  come  upon  him  in  one 
tide  of  overwhelming  chastisement,  and  turning  him  into  a 
victim  of  public  wrath,  would  hunt  him  away  beyond  the 
outskirts  of  society.  Now,  what  is  this  to  say  but  that  the 
suspicion  in  question  is  a bugbear?  It  has  done  a world 
of  mischief  by  seducing  many  an  inquirer  from  the  single- 
ness of  a resolved  loyalty  to  the  God  of  heaven,  and  after 
all  it  gives  evidence  to  the  author  from  whom  it  comes  by 
turning  out  to  be  a falsehood.  It  is  hard,  indeed,  that  that 
apprehension  should  corrupt  the  initiatory  attitude  of  the 
soul,  and  should  make  it  hesitate  about  the  extent  of  that 
obedience  that  it  is  to  render  to  the  authority  of  Christ, 
and  should  detract  from  the  entireness  of  its  resolution  to 
follow  Him  fully,  and  to  cleave  to  Him  with  full  purpose 
of  heart ; and  it  crowns  the  hardship  of  the  whole  circum- 
stance when  the  thing  apprehended  is,  after  all,  nothing 
better  than  a phantom  flitting  before  the  eye  of  a misled 
imagination.  The  thing  apprehended,  my  brethren,  will 
not  happen.  God  has  provided  against  it  in  the  moral  con- 
stitution of  the  species.  He  who  wields  an  omnipotent 
sway  over  the  movements  of  the  spirit  as  well  as  over  all 
the  elements  of  the  material  creation,  can  turn  the  heart 
of  every  man  whithersoever  He  will,  and  bind  its  every 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


387 


impulse  towards  the  accomplishment  of  His  promises  in 
behalf  of  the  meek  and  the  righteous  and  the  godly.  Out 
of  the  materials  of  human  character  as  it  exists  in  society 
— deeply  tainted  and  vitiated  as  it  is  by  that  sad  heredit- 
ary disease  which  our  first  parents  have  entailed  upon  us — - 
even  out  of  these  materials  can  God  create  a shield  of  pro- 
tection for  His  servaftts  which  shall  compass  them  about, 
and  spread  over  them  such  a mantle  of  security  as  will 
leave  them  safe  to  go  throughout  all  the  departments  of 
business  and  of  intercourse,  and  to  carry  a most  literal,  a 
most  scrupulous,  a most  exact  obedience  to  all  His  require- 
ments along  with  them.  Your  own  experience  demon- 
strates the  truth  of  this  in  as  far  as  the  particular  require- 
ment I am  now  insisting  on  is  concerned.  The  man  who 
fearlessly  commits  himself  to  the  performance  of  this  re- 
quirement, up  to  the  last  jot  and  tittle  of  it,  foolishly  scrupu- 
lous as  he  may  be  thought,  and  fanatic  as  he  may  be  called, 
will  compel  the  homage  of  all  his  acquaintances,  and  no 
hand  will  ever  rise  in  violence  against  him,  and  he  will 
move  his  protected  way  throughout  all  the  heats  of  human 
assailment;  and  instead  of  that  indignity  with  which  the 
false  tempter  tried  to  scare  him  away  from  the  doing  of 
the  commandments,  he  will  find  that  the  faithful  God  has 
overshadowed  him  with  a canopy  of  defense,  and  placed 
the  homage  of  tenderness,  and  the  salutations  of  respect, 
and  the  soothing  civilities  of  friendship  and  cordial  admi- 
ration on  every  side  of  him.  Speaking  on  the  mere  prob- 
abilities of  human  experience,  I assert  it  of  this  man  that 
he  stands  greatly  less  exposed  to  the  outbreaks  of  rudeness 
or  of  violence  than  he  who  has  cast  off  the  spirit  and  the 
authority  of  this  passage  altogether,  and  who  is  jealous  of 
his  honor,  and  proudly  disdainful  of  every  encroachment 
upon  his  rights,  and  stands  on  the  ready  tiptoe  of  vindica- 
tion for  every  one  affront,  real  or  imaginary.  The  passive, 
unresisting  Christian  may,  accqrding  to  the  alarms  of  na- 
ture, be  looked  upon  as  exposed  to  every  blast  of  human 
violence — but  let  him  endure  to  the  end,  and  let  faith  ban- 
ish these  alarms,  and  let  him  keep  an  unsullied  and  unmu- 


388 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


tilated  integrity  of  obedience,  and  let  him  embark  on  the 
field  of  duty  with  the  single  principle  of  acting  up  to  all  the 
requirements,  and  he  will  find  how  the  field  brightens  and 
beautifies  before  him  by  every  footstep  of  his  advance- 
ment. He  will  find  that  in  the  keeping  of  the  command- 
ments there  is  great  reward.  He  will  find  the  groundless- 
ness of  those  many  apprehensions  by  which  the  great  ene- 
my of  mankind  tried  to  deter  him  from  the  service  of  heav- 
en’s Master,  and  an  obedience  to  heaven’s  Lord.  And  for 
the  future  exposure  to  malignity  and  rudeness  by  which  he 
tried  to  scare  him  away  from  the  path  that  leads  to  eter- 
nity, he  will  find  that  even  in  time  the  kindliness  of  every 
eye  will  be  drawn  towards  him,  and  all  hostility  and  vio- 
lence, as  if  arrested  by  the  omnipotence  of  a charm,  will 
be  cleared  away  from  his  footsteps. 

Before  I conclude,  I can  not  but  point  your  attention  to 
the  beautiful  harmony  that  subsists  between  all  this  ex- 
perience and  the  promises  of  Scripture.  The  meek,  one 
would  think,  are  ready  to  be  overborne  by  surrounding 
violence,  and  yet  God  says  the  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth. 
The  man  who  fears  God,  and  reads  this  passage  of  His 
communication,  will  love  his  enemies  ; and  God  says — I 
will  make  the  enemies  of  him  who  fears  me  to  be  at  peace 
with  him.  Oh  ! pause,  pause,  my  brethren,  ere  you  suffer 
any  apprehension  whatever  to  mutilate  the  entireness  of 
that  prescriptive  code  which  the  Author  and  Finisher  of 
our  faith  has  bequeathed  to  us  ; and  when  I think  of  duties 
being  ours  and  events  being  God’s — when  I think  of  His 
absolute  control  over  the  events  of  human  society,  and 
how  He  can  turn  the  heart  of  man  whithersoever  He  will 
— when  I think  of  the  way  in  which  He  has  shielded  the 
human  species  from  the  violence  of  the  inferior  creation, 
even  by  putting  the  fear  of  man  and  the  dread  of  man  upon 
all  animals — when  I think  of  the  way  in  which  He  has 
shielded  the  passive  recipients  of  a blow  from  the  violence 
of  their  own  species,  by  all  those  checks  of  delicacy  and 
feeling  which  He  hath  laid  on  the  whole  mass  of  human 
society — when  I further  think  of  the  harmony  between  this 


CHRISTIAN  MEEKNESS. 


385 


portion  of  human  experience  and  the  promises  of  the  Bible, 
and  I take  a survey  of  the  extent  of  these  promises,  I must 
protest  against  admitting  the  fear  of  any  consequences 
whatever  from  trenching  on  the  entireness  of  our  purpose 
to  yield  an  undeviating  adherence  to  the  precepts  of  the 
Bible ; but  knowing  that  all  these  consequences  are  in  His 
hand  and  under  His  absolute  direction,  let  us  prove  how 
fearlessly  we  confide  in  the  providence  and  faithfulness  of 
God  by  the  evidences  of  a close,  an  assiduous,  and  an  unex- 
cepted observation  carried  round  the  whole  compass  and 
extent  of  the  revealed  law  of  God. 


SERMON  XXV. 

[Preached  at  Glasgow  in  February,  1817.] 

ACTS  XIX.  24,  25. 

“For  a certain  man,  named  Demetrius,  a silversmith,  which  made  silver  shrines  for  Diana, 
brought  no  small  gain  unto  the  craftsmen  ; whom  he  called  together  with  the  work- 
men of  like  occupation,  and  said,  Sirs,  ye  know  that  by  this  craft  we  have  our  wealth.” 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  a certain  air  of  secularity 
and  of  week-day  earthliness  might  be  imparted  to  a pulpit 
demonstration.  It  might  be  done  by  a preacher  who 
pitches  no  higher  than  a worldly  system  of  morals — who 
founds  it  on  the  inferior  principles  of  interest  and  a repu- 
tation among  men — who  banishes  away  from  it  all  that  is 
heavenly  and  all  that  is  peculiar  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel 
— and  who,  while  he  pursues  the  details  of  civil,  and  social, 
and  domestic  economy,  seems  animated  by  nothing  else 
than  that  bare  consideration  of  propriety  which  it  is  com- 
petent for  any  man  to  entertain,  though  he  neither  look 
upward  to  God  nor  onward  to  the  judgment  that  is  in 
reserve  for  him.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  even 
in  that  heart  where  the  spiritualities  of  faith  have  no 
occupation — that  even  in  the  bosom  of  him  who  never 
heeds  his  God,  or  casts  one  earnest  regard  towards  the 
book  of  that  message  which  reports  to  us  His  doctrine  and 
His  will,  there  may  be  a strong  sense  of  moral  rectitude, 
and  a strong  susceptibility  to  many  of  the  finest  touches  of 
moral  delicacy,  and  a ready  movement  of  consent  and  of 
obedience  to  the  impulses  of  honor  and  compassion  and 
generosity,  and  all  that  is  laudable  or  engaging  in  such  a 
character  may  be  either  exemplified  in  the  life,  or  urged, 
and  urged  most  eloquently  from  the  pulpit ; and  yet,  neither 
in  the  one  nor  in  the  other  may  there  be  a single  thought 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


391 


beyond  the  world,  or  a single  virtue  which  shall  not  find 
in  the  world  all  its  acknowledgment  and  all  its  reward. 

But  again,  there  may  to  the  eye  ahd  the  apprehension 
of  some  be  the  very  same  air  of  secularly  in  the  lucubra- 
tions of  him  who  wants  to  preach  the  whole  system  of 
human  life  with  the  entire  spirit  of  the  New  Testament — 
of  him  who  is  for  carrying  forward  its  strictest  and  its  lofti- 
est requisitions  into  all  the  manifold  varieties  of  human  ex- 
perience— of  him  who  would  like  to  exalt  the  character  of 
the  species  from  their  affection  for  the  things  which  are 
below  to  a supreme  and  predominant  affection  for  the  things 
which  are  above — of  him  who  would  not  be  for  letting  down 
by  a single  step  the  spiritual  character  of  Christianity,  but 
would  like  to  fix  and  to  realize  it  on  all  the  concerns  of  life 
and  on  all  the  actual  business  of  society.  For,  you  will  ob- 
serve, that  the  lessons  of  theology  may  be  dealt  out  to  an 
audience  in  the  terms  of  an  abstract  and  lofty  representa- 
tion, and  its  well-built  system  of  articles  may  be  made  to 
carry  along  with  it  the  consent  of  every  understanding,  and 
its  paramount  authority  over  all  the  wishes  of  nature  and 
of  interest  may  be  strenuously  asserted  on  the  one  side,  and 
be  as  unresistingly  acquiesced  in  on  the  other,  and  all  this 
without  one  stretch  of  application  to  the  familiarities  of  the 
living  and  the  acting  man.  And  when  this  work  of  applica- 
tion is  attempted — when  the  effort  is  made  by  the  preacher 
to  transplant  this  style  of  Christianity  from  speculation  into 
practice — when,  for  this  purpose,  he  follows  your  everyday 
path,  and  steps  over  the  threshold  of  your  family,  and  takes 
account  of  your  doings  in  the  market-place,  and  thrusts  him- 
self into  the  very  heart  of  the  secularities  which  engage 
you,  and  haunts  the  very  footsteps  you  take  from  one  trans- 
action to  another,  and  from  one  company  to  another,  and 
keeps  a wakeful  eye  on  all  the  details  of  your  ever-moving 
history,  and,  in  a word,  holds  the  faithful  mirror  to  all  that 
meets  you,  and  takes  you  up  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath, 
why,  it  may  be  felt  by  some  that  in  the  act  of  doing  so  the 
teacher  of  Christianity  is  inflicting  upon  it  an  offensive 
desecration — that  he  is  spreading  a hue  of  earthliness  over 


392 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


it — that  he  is  debasing  his  subject  by  the  vulgarities  of  tame 
and  ordinary  experience — that  he  is  letting  in  upon  a hal- 
lowed field  such  a plain  familiarity  of  coloring  as  goes  to 
mar  and  to  violate  the  sanctity  of  its  complexion,  and  mak- 
ing an  invasion  on  the  dignity  of  that  pulpit  which  should 
be  consecrated  to  the  promulgation  of  religious  truth  in  its 
most  abstract,  general,  and  elevated  form. 

Now,  before  I proceed  to  any  further  explanations,  I 
must  offer  my  protest  against  the  whole  drift  and  tendency 
of  such  an  argument  as  the  one  I am  now  adverting  to.  I 
assert,  with  the  most  unqualified  earnestness,  that  Christian- 
ity is  the  religion  of  life,  and  will  bear  to  be  carried  in  the 
whole  extent  of  her  spirit  and  of  her  laws  throughout  all  the 
haunts  and  varieties  of  human  intercourse — that  her  high 
pretension  is  to  subordinate  the  every  doing  and  the  every 
interest  of  man  to  the  regimen  of  her  own  unbending  au- 
thority— that  in  her  strictest  and  most  essential  character 
she  may  be  introduced  into  the  busiest  walks  of  society, 
and  there  uphold  her  disciples  in  the  exercise  of  that  sim- 
plicity and  godly  sincerity  which  she  lays  upon  them ; and 
in  opposition  to  all  the  alleged  impracticabilities  which  are 
conceived  to  lie  in  the  way  of  her  full  establishment  over 
the  acts  and  the  consciences  of  our  species,  do  I aver,  that 
if  she  cannot  be  practical  neither  ought  she  to  be  preached 
— that  if  there  be  some  invincible  necessity  why  she  should 
be  -banished  from  any  one  of  your  employments  through 
the  week,  then  she  ought  to  be  banished  from  every  one  of 
our  pulpits  upon  the  Sabbath — that  she  is  either  everything 
or  nothing — that  she  knows  of  no  compromise  between  her 
own  laws  and  the  maxims  of  the  world  by  some  expedient 
of  time-accommodating  conformity — that  she  disclaims  all 
these  midway  adjustments  entirely — and  if  she  is  deposed 
from  her  right  of  paramount  control  over  all  the  conceiv- 
able cases  of  human  conduct,  then  let  her  also  be  deposed 
from  the  ostensible  place  she  now  holds  in  the  eye  of  the 
country — let  her  very  name  be  given  up  to  public  scorn — - 
let  her  forthwith  be  abandoned  to  the  utter  contempt  and 
negligence  of  mankind. 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


393 


Let  me  assure  you  that  there  is  no  safe  alternative  be- 
tween an  entire  Christianity  and  no  Christianity  at  all — 
that  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament  admits  of  no  par- 
titioning whatever — that  what  it  professes  to  do  is  either 
thoroughly  to  reform  the  world,  or  to  bring  the  world  under 
the  burden  of  a righteous  and  unescapable  condemnation — 
and  that  whoever  the  individual  be  who  refuses  to  give  up 
his  conformities,  and  to  drink  in  the  pure  and  unqualified 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  fearlessly  to  renounce  all  for  eter- 
nity, and  to  give  his  honest  and  aspiring  energies  to  the 
love  of  God  and  a patient  waiting  for  Christ,  let  him  plead 
obstacles  and  impossibilities  as  he  may,  he  has  chosen  to 
abide  with  a world  which  the  Bible  represents  to  be  lying 
in  wickedness — he  keeps  him  by  the  broad  way  which 
leadeth  to  destruction — he  turns  a deaf  ear  from  the  call  to 
glory  and  to  virtue — he  winds  not  up  his  resolves  to  the 
pitch  of  a fair  and  honest  consent  to  Christianity — he  is  not 
willing  to  forsake  all  in  the  act  of  following  after  Jesus,  or 
to  be  entirely  what  He  would  have  him  to  be,  or  to  do 
entirely  what  He  would  have  him  to  do. 

I feel  urged  to  these  observations  by  the  power  and  the 
prevalency  of  a sentiment  which  I know  to  exist  among 
you — that  the  realities  of  actual  experience  offer  an  insur- 
mountable barrier  against  the  lessons  of  Christianity  in  all 
the  fullness  and  variety  of  their  application — that  what  may 
sound  very  well  from  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath  is  altogeth- 
er inapplicable  to  the  familiar  and  everyday  practice  of  the 
week — that  what  the  preacher  can  dress  out  to  your  de- 
lighted imaginations  in  the  form  of  a very  specious  and 
imposing  plausibility,  must  just  be  thrown  aside  and  forgot- 
ten when  you  repair  to  the  scenes  of  ordinary  merchandise, 
and  get  involved  in  the  common  run  of  its  calls  and  its 
temptations  and  its  cares — that  some  mysterious  necessity 
exists  upon  earth  for  binding  down  all  who  five  in  it  to  a 
certain  degree  of  conformity — that  it  is  utterly  impossible, 
under  the  actual  habits  and  arrangements  of  society,  to 
sustain  the  lofty  practice  or  the  lofty  tone  of  a morality 
that  is  bent  on  the  themes,  and  the  contemplations,  and  the 

R# 


894 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


spiritual  exercises  of  a celestial  world  : — in  a word,  that 
you  are  living  in  this  world,  and  that,  somehow  or  other,  it 
is  a world  which  raises  an  unconquerable  obstruction  to 
the  purity  and  the  elevation  of  the  New  Testament — and 
in  this  way  has  religion  in  the  eyes  of  thousands  got  a 
visionary  character  impressed  upon  it.  It  is  dethroned 
from  the  authority  of  a real  and  a living  principle  of  con- 
duct— it  is  reduced  to  an  unsubstantial  mockery,  which 
may  recur  at  intervals  like  a Sabbath  charm  upon  the  ear, 
without  either  entering  the  heart  or  vivifying  the  practice 
— and  thus  with  many,  and  very  many,  who  neither  question 
its  truth,  nor  resist  its  orthodoxy,  nor  trample  upon  its 
ordinances,  nor  vilify  nor  arraign  its  ministers  as  the  use- 
less advocates  of  an  impracticable  system,  is  it  treated  as 
a phantom  of  no  power — a voice  of  no  import  and  no  sig- 
nificancy. 

Now,  how  can  you  get  at  this  very  deep  and  general 
impression  so  as  to  reason  it  away,  without  descending 
upon  that  very  field  of  experience  on  which  it  flourisheth  ? 
How  can  you  accomplish  the  dislodgment  of  it,  but  by 
stepping  abroad  on  that  arena  where  its  foundations  are 
laid  ? How  can  you  demolish  this  stronghold  of  resistance 
without  taking  an  account  of  the  pieces  which  compose  it, 
and  attending  to  the  way  in  which  they  are  framed  togeth- 
er, so  as  to  raise  that  fabric  which  it  is  our  object  to  de- 
stroy ? In  other  words,  how  can  the  argument  we  have 
stated  be  carried  to  its  right  conclusion  without  going  into 
details  ? without  touching  upon  the  force  of  those  tempta- 
tions which  are  felt  every  day  at  your  shops  and  in  your 
counting-houses?  without  accompanying  you  into  the  va- 
ried haunts  and  operations  of  merchandise  ? and  finally, 
without  borrowing  an  aid  from  the  light  of  such  demon- 
strations as  will  both  serve  to  establish  a point  in  political 
economy,  and  show  the  applications  to  life  and  to  business 
which  may  be  drawn  from  the  morality  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment? 

But  this,  as  I have  already  intimated,  may  in  the  eyes  of 
some  throw  a revolting  air  of  secularly  over  the  whole 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


395 


speculation.  It  may  be  offensive  to  the  unaccustomed  ears 
of  those  who  like  to  hear  nothing  but  the  transmuted  ortho- 
doxy of  former  days  in  its  most  general  and  unbending 
form,  and  are  forgetful  all  the  while  of  the  minutely  ex- 
perimental applications,  both  to  social  and  to  domestic  life, 
which  characterized  the  teaching  of  the  apostles.  I should 
like  you  to  give  up  this  hereditary  prejudice,  and  to  get  the 
better  of  a squeamishness  that  is  so  apt  and  so  easy  to  be 
offended,  and  to  remember  that  it  likens  you  to  those  whom 
Paul  called  the  weaker  brethren,  and  to  know  that  the  best 
spirit  of  the  gospel  is  when  with  the  spirit  of  love  there  is 
mingled  the  spirit  of  power  and  of  a sound  mind.  And 
therefore  it  is  that  I call  upon  you  to  bring  the  habit  of  a 
well-exercised  discernment  to  this  question,  and  to  distin- 
guish between  the  drift  of  an  argument  which  goes  to  sec- 
ularize what  is  Christian,  and  an  argument  which  goes  to 
Christianize  what  is  secular — between  an  argument  which 
brings  down  all  that  is  heavenly  to  an  earthly  and  a degrad- 
ed standard,  and  an  argument  the  honest  aim  of  which  is  to 
bring  up  all  that  is  earthly  to  a lofty  and  a celestial  stand- 
ard— to  press  home  the  gospel  in  all  the  extent  of  its  requi- 
sitions, and  thoroughly  to  infuse  the  whole  system  and 
business  of  human  life  with  that  very  spirit  which  sustains 
tranquillity  in  the  hour  of  death,  and  draws  upon  it  the 
voice  of  approbation  from  the  judgment-seat,  and  is  at 
length  admitted  to  flourish  without  impediment  or  alloy  in 
the  mansions  of  eternity. 

In  the  instance  before  us,  the  attempt  of  Paul  to  introduce 
Christianity  into  the  town  of  Ephesus  was  resisted — and 
that  on  the  ground  of  its  conceived  hostility  to  the  interests 
of  a trade.  It  would  have  put  an  end  to  a particular  man- 
ufacture. All  the  capital  that  was  invested,  and  all  the 
labor  that  was  maintained  in  the  business  of  making  silver 
shrines  for  Diana,  would  have  been  thrown  out  of  their 
wonted  employment.  This  was  the  anticipated  ruin  which 
stood  full  in  the  eye  of  Demetrius  and  his  brethren  of  like 
occupation — and  with  all  the  quick  and  sensitive  jealousy 
of  mercantile  alarm  did  he  stand  up  for  the  established 


396 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


idolatry  of  the  town,  and  try  to  bear  down  the  enterprise 
of  the  apostles  by  the  tumult  and  the  terror  of  insurrection- 
ary violence. 

Now,  I can  not  conceive  how  any  under  the  impression 
of  Christianity  being  the  true  religion,  should  wish  well  to 
such  a resistance.  Even  let  the  whole  mischief  be  realized 
up  to  the  full  extent  of  the  felt  anticipation,  ought  it  not  to 
have  been  willingly  borne  in  the  course  of  instituting  a 
pure  and  authentic  worship  on  the  overthrow  of  Paganism 
and  all  its  revolting  abominations?  It  is  a painful  specta- 
cle, no  doubt,  for  the  eye  to  dwell  upon,  when  over  the 
whole  field  of  its  contemplation  it  sees  nothing  but  ruined 
capitalists  and  starving  artificers ; but  to  the  mind  of  him 
who  rightly  balances  the  consideration  of  good  and  of  evil,  of 
duty  and  interest,  of  moral  principle  and  temporal  advant- 
age, it  will  be  the  instantaneous  judgment  that  the  specta- 
cle, melancholy  as  it  is,  ought  to  be  endured,  rather  than 
that  Christianity  should  be  rejected — that  everything  must 
be  given  up  for  its  sake — and  that  it  must  ever  be  regarded 
as  the  richest  blessing  which  can  be  conferred  upon  a 
country,  even  though  the  way  to  the  final  establishment  of 
this  religion  should  be  paved  upon  the  ruins  of  its  commer- 
cial greatness. 

But  the  father  of  lies  is  ever  employed  in  magnifying  his 
temptations,  and  it  were  not  out  of  place  to  consider  in  how 
far  he  overcharged  that  picture  of  wretchedness  which 
floated  before  the  eye  of  the  Ephesian  silversmith.  It  is 
very  true,  that  from  the  moment  when  the  great  goddess 
Diana  came  to  be  universally  despised,  there  would  be  a 
universal  cessation  of  the  demand  for  those  silver  shrines, 
the  making  of  which  brought  no  small  gain  unto  the  crafts- 
men. But  in  what  way  did  it  bring  them  the  gain  ? — was 
it  the  mere  working  up  of  the  article  which  brought  to 
their  door  all  the  elements  of  comfort  and  subsistence  for 
their  families?- — was  there  anything  in  the  particular  mode 
or  exercise  of  industry  which  carried  the  power  of  wealth 
or  of  maintenance  along  with  it  ? — would  the  mere  employ- 
ment of  itself  have  fed  or  have  clothed  them?  From  what 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


397 


source,  I ask,  did  they  draw  the  revenue  which  upheld 
them? — was  it  from  the  handiwork,  or  from  the  price  paid 
for  the  handiwork? — was  it  from  any  active  ability  on  the 
part  of  the  manufacturer,  or  from  an  ability  on  the  part  of 
purchasers  to  afford  them  the  price  of  the  manufactured 
article?  Why,  my  brethren,  all  that  the  manufacture  could 
do  was  to  produce  its  own  commodity.  The  gain  which 
accrued  to  the  workmen  was  drawn  from  another  quarter 
entirely.  All  the  bread  which  it  enabled  them  to  purchase 
for  their  children,  and  all  the  substantial  comfort  with  which 
it  cheered  the  masters  of  so  many  a household  establishment 
— and  all  the  joyous  spectacles  which  it  reared  of  a whole 
street  occupied  by  thriving  and  industrious  families — every 
one  of  these  elements  lay  comprised  in  one  general  object 
which  embraced  and  provided  for  them  all — not  in  the 
shrines,  but  in  the  price  that  was  paid  for  them — not  in  the 
productive  powers  of  the  manufacturer,  for  from  this  source 
nothing  could  be  made  to  emanate  but  shrines,  but  in  the 
ability  of  those  who  purchased  them — not  in  the  handiwork, 
but  in  the  effective  demand  of  a previous  and  independent 
ability  for  the  article  that  was  wrought. 

Now,  mark  it  well,  that  though  Paul  had  by  the  achiev- 
ment  of  a single  day  christened  the  whole  population  of 
Ephesus,  he  would  only  have  extinguished  the  taste  for 
shrines,  but  he  would  not  have  reduced  by  a single  iota 
the  ability  to  purchase  them.  He  would  have  put  an  end 
to  the  manufacture,  we  grant  you,  but  there  was  nothing 
in  his  Christianity  that  could  at  all  touch  or  impair  the 
fund  out  of  which  flowed  the  gain  and  the  maintenance  of 
the  people  who  were  employed  in  it.  The  convert  ceased 
his  demand  for  shrines,  but  he  did  not  on  that  account  lose 
that  portion  of  his  revenue  which  went  to  defray  the  cost 
of  them.  This  was  still  in  reserve,  and  would  in  point  of 
fact  be  discharged  on  other  articles  of  expenditure.  The 
ability  of  consumers  to  furnish  a profit  to  the  capitalist  and 
a subsistence  to  the  artificer,  was  just  in  every  way  the 
same  after  this  revolution  in  the  faith  of  the  people  as 
before  it.  One  of  the  old  channels  through  which  it  found 


398 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


its  way  to  the  encouragement  of  industry  was  doubt- 
less abandoned,  but  as  soon  as  some  substitute  for  shrines 
had  been  devised  for  taking  off  the  unexpended  increase, 
another  channel  would  open,  and  we  should  behold  as 
copious  a distribution  of  all  the  elements  of  comfort  as 
before,  throughout  as  wide  an  extent  of  a working  and  a 
trading  population. 

That  there  would  be  all  that  temporary  inconvenience 
and  distress  which  arises  from  every  sudden  and  unlooked- 
for  shift  in  the  state  of  the  demand  is  undeniable.  But  it 
looked  far  more  formidable  in  the  eyes  of  Demetrius.  Like 
many  of  the  economists  who  have  succeeded  him,  he  saw 
in  that  measure,  which  would  have  done  no  more  than 
change  the  direction  of  industry,  a total  and  an  irrecoverable 
extinction  of  it.  What  he  honestly  dreaded  was  a perma- 
nent blow  to  the  trade  of  Ephesus — that  she  would,  some- 
how, be  shorn  in  part  of  her  wealth  and  of  her  greatness — 
that  a certain  portion  of  manufacture,  with  all  the  benefit 
and  subsistence  it  brought  to  families,  would  disappear  from 
her.  Nor  did  he  see  how  soon  her  commerce  would  reas- 
cend to  all  its  wonted  prosperity — how  it  possessed  an 
unquelled  principle  of  vigor  which  made  it  to  survive  the 
shock  of  any  sudden  fluctuation — and  that  should  every 
altar  of  Paganism  be  overthrown,  and  the  gospel  in  all  its 
pure  and  holy  influences  reign  with  unrivaled  ascendency 
over  the  hearts  of  a Christian  people,  there  would,  after  a 
moral  revolution  so  big  to  him  with  the  imagination  of 
manifold  disasters,  be  as  plenteous  a circulation  of  gain 
among  the  craftsmen,  as  busy  and  animated  a throng  in  the 
market-place  of  his  city,  and  a tide  of  exuberancy  as  full 
and  as  generous  as  ever,  pouring  forth  from  the  various 
sources  of  nature  and  of  Providence,  throughout  all  her 
families. 

And  here  do  I make  my  confident  appeal  to  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  very  oldest  of  our  citizens — to  those  of  them 
who  have  taken  the  profoundest  interest  in  the  history  of 
commerce,  and  have  kept  the  most  wakeful  eye  upon  all 
its  alternations — I bid  them  repeat,  upon  their  own  experi- 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES- 


399 


ence,  how  often  in  the  course  of  their  lives  an  oppressive 
weight  of  despondency  has  been  seen  to  come  upon  our 
people,  and  some  great  political  movement,  or  some  inter- 
ception in  the  paths  of  our  foreign  intercourse,  has  deranged 
the  existing  operations — and  as  they  looked  at  the  mischief 
which  lowered  so  portentously  upon  them,  what,  I would 
ask,  was  the  degree  of  fearful  anticipation  which  it  inspired? 
Was  it  only  the  distress  of  a few  months  of  which  they  were 
afraid?  or  was  it  the  visitation  of  some  fixed  and  irrecover- 
able disaster?  Did  not  the  city  feel  herself  menaced  by  an 
evil  of  far  more  terrible  import  than  such  a temporary  em- 
barrassment as  every  change  in  the  direction  of  trade  must 
necessarily  create?  Was  it  not  a permanent  decline  of 
trade,  or  a partial  extinction  of  it,  which  appalled  her;  and 
how  often,  I ask,  has  this  periodic  alarm  arisen  and  spread 
its  anxious  and  disheartening  gloom  over  the  spirits  of  a 
brooding  population? 

And,  I ask  again,  how  often  has  this  apprehension  turned 
out  to  be  a chimera  ? How  often  has  prosperity’s  bright- 
ening day  emerged,  and  with  more  vivid  luster  than  before, 
out  of  this  little  period  of  dark  and  troubled  imaginations  ? 
How  often  has  the  city  of  our  habitation  broken  her  power- 
ful and  unfaltering  way  out  of  all  the  adversities  which 
threatened  to  overwhelm  her? — and  tell  me,  ye  sage  and 
observant  characters  of  half  a century,  as  ye  recount  her 
seasons  of  dimness  and  distress,  if  e’er  ye  remember  such 
a time  when  the  boding  cloud  of  mischief  did  not  clear 
away,  and  the  eye  of  a wakeful  Providence  did  not  again 
look  out  to  shed  its  blessings  and  its  smiles  over  as  thriving 
and  as  populous  a community  as  ever? 

Such  is  the  fact ; and  a very  few  repetitions  of  that  one 
step  in  argument  by  which  I attempted  to  meet  the  prophe- 
cy of  Demetrius  would  complete  the  explanation.  But  this 
I forbear  to  prosecute,  and  think  that  I have  gone  far 
enough,  in  the  place  which  I now  occupy,  when  I have 
barely  suggested  it ; and  I shall  only  say,  ere  I proceed  to 
the  textual  application  of  all  this  reasoning,  that  in  every 
country  where  property  is  surrounded  with  the  securities 


400 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


of  justice,  the  processes  of  trade  can  no  more  be  permanent- 
ly arrested  than  the  processes  of  vegetation — that  the  sta- 
mina of  its  continuance  and  extension  are  in  every  way  as 
indestructible  as  even  the  elements  of  nature — and  that  as 
surely  as  the  seasons  revolve,  and  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
ripen  in  their  wonted  exuberancy  for  the  subsistence  of 
man,  so  surely  will  commerce  be  upheld  at  an  average 
standard  of  greatness  under  all  her  fluctuations — and  let 
her  languish  in  her  threatening  periods  of  transition  as  she 
may,  she  will  ever  be  found  to  weather  and  survive  the 
shock  of  all  moral  and  all  historical  changes. 

There  is  one  respect  in  which  we  differ  from  the  people 
of  Ephesus.  The  question  is  not  now  between  the  interests 
of  trade  and  the  admittance  of  the  Christian  profession  into 
our  country  ; but  there  may  at  times  be  a question  still 
between  the  interests  of  trade  and  the  adoption  of  a Chris- 
tian measure  in  our  country — and  the  very  argument  of 
Demetrius,  the  silversmith,  may  be  set  up  in  factious  oppo- 
sition against  the  advocates  of  a righteous  cause — and  the 
advancement  of  a moral  or  of  a religious  good  may  thus 
be  retarded  on  some  plea  of  mercantile  policy — and  the 
best  and  purest  devices  of  philanthropists  may  be  withstood 
and  frustrated,  because  they  involve  in  them  the  overthrow 
of  some  existing  craft  which  brings  no  small  wealth  unto 
the  capitalists,  and  no  small  gain  unto  the  craftsmen — and, 
as  if  the  interest  that  was  thus  supported  would  not  be 
replaced  by  another  interest  of  equal  extent,  which  would 
grow  and  form  from  the  first  moment  of  the  measure  being 
accomplished — would  the  measure  be  resisted  with  as 
much  vehemence  as  if  it  involved  the  country  in  all  the 
fatality  of  mischief,  and  the  temporary  evil  arising  from  a 
mere  change  in  the  direction  of  trade  would,  if  looked  at 
through  the  mist  of  futurity,  be  magnified  into  the  awful 
disaster  of  a permanent  and  ruinous  invasion  upon  the 
trade  itself — and  thus  might  the  defense  of  iniquities  the 
most  glaring  and  outrageous,  be  conducted  in  the  very 
language  and  be  falsely  associated  with  the  dearest  objects 
of  patriotism. 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


401 


Let  me  relieve  the  generality  of  this  argument  by  one 
illustration.  Many  of  you  remember  the  time  when  the 
natural  enthusiasm  of  our  country  was  kept  at  bay  by  the 
very  argument  of  Demetrius — when  the  interest  of  trade 
was  set  up  in  resistance  to  all  that  justice  could  assert,  or 
to  all  that  compassion  could  plead,  in  behalf  of  outraged 
Africa — when  it  was  said  that  the  desolation  of  its  families 
was  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  the  families  of  Britain 
— when  Parliament  was  overborne  by  pathetic  representa- 
tions from  individuals  who  plead  that  their  all  would  be 
dissipated,  and  from  towns  which  maintained — and  I be- 
lieve honestly  maintained — that  their  commerce  would  go 
into  utter  annihilation.  It  would  have  been  our  duty  to 
have  done  what  was  righteous,  even  though  all  these 
anticipations  had  been  realized.  But  look  at  the  fact,  and 
see  what  became  of  the  bugbear  when  reduced  to  the 
dimensions  of  truth  and  of  nature.  Trace  the  history  of 
that  very  town  which  sent  forth  the  largest  capital  on  these 
expeditions  of  barbarity.  Tell  me  if  she  went  into  annihi- 
lation; or  if  in  virtue  of  that  vigorous  principle  of  resui’rec- 
tion,  in  virtue  of  which  commerce  is  ever  found  to  break 
an  unfettered  way  out  of  all  its  difficulties  and  alarms,  she 
did  not  rise  to  a prouder  elevation  than  in  those  days  when 
she  pursued  her  guilty  career  through  the  distress  of  unof- 
fending habitations,  and  steeled  her  heart  against  the  shriek 
of  ravaged  homes  and  desolated  villages.  No,  my  brethren ! 
the  argument  was  nothing  against  the  urgency  of  so  right- 
eous a cause ; but  the  argument  was  in  itself  a delusion, 
and  should  teach  us  how  to  distinguish  between  the  incon- 
veniencies  of  a change  in  the  direction  of  trade,  and  the 
miseries  of  its  final  and  irrecoverable  extinction — and  at  all 
events  never,  never  to  give  it  the  weight  of  one  particle  of 
dust , when  set  in  array  against  either  one  demand  of  justice 
or  one  object  of  Christian  policy. 

I have  hitherto  confined  myself  to  thormost  direct  and 
obvious  application  of  the  text  that  has  been  submitted  to 
you,  and  have  scarcely  broken  ground  on  what  I conceive 
to  be  by  far  the  most  useful  and  interesting  of  its  applica- 


402 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


tions.  I have  not  had  time  to  enter  into  any  details  of  that 
way  in  which  the  fancied  interests  and  necessities  of  trade 
are  set  up  in  opposition  to  tlie  cause  not  of  public  but  of 
personal  Christianity.  How  out  of  its  maxims  and  its 
usages  there  has  arisen  what  I would  call  the  wisdom  of 
this  world,  which  opposeth  itself  to  the  foolishness  of 
preaching — how  the  principles  of  the  gospel  in  all  their 
extent  and  spirituality,  are  somehow  or  other  conceived 
to  be  utterly  inapplicable  to  the  business  of  its  week-day 
operations.  And  in  this  way  has  a strong  practical  barrier 
been  raised  against  the  admission  of  Christian  truth  in  all 
its  entireness,  and  against  obedience  to  the  lessons  of 
Christian  practice  in  all  that  power  of  universality  which 
belongs  to  them.  This  my  time  at  present  will  not  permit 
me  to  enter  upon,  and  therefore  it  is  that  I confine  the 
argument  of  this  day  to  one  lesson  which  even  still  is  capa- 
ble of  being  turned  to  practical  application.  For,  let  it  be 
observed,  that  Britain  has  not  yet  done  with  the  magnifi- 
cence of  her  moral  career — that  her  watchful  eye  is  still 
going  to  and  fro  upon  the  earth,  and  expatiates  over  the 
whole  of  its  ample  territory  as  a field  for  the  plans  and  the 
adventures  of  benevolence — that  under  her  auspices  the 
gospel  is  breaking  forth  beyond  the  limits  of  Christendom 
— and  whether  we  look  to  the  accomplishment  of  her 
labors  in  distant  lands,  or  to  the  efforts  of  her  religious 
population  after  the  establishment  of  perpetual  and  univer- 
sal peace  among  the  nations,  we  see  an  expansion  in  her 
designs  which,  if  crowned  with  success,  as  they  nobly  were 
in  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  of  Africa,  bids  fair  to 
spread  the  belief  and  the  obedience  of  the  gospel  over  the 
whole  extent  of  our  habitable  world.  The  interest  of  trade 
has  been  set  up  against  these  great  operations,  and  it  were 
well  the  argument  of  the  Ephesian  silversmith  could  be 
appreciated  in  all  the  impotence  which  belongs  to  it. 

But  I hasten  te  a conclusion;  and  however  dimly  you 
may  perceive  the  bearing  of  all  I have  alleged  on  the  cause 
of  Christ  in  the  great  matter  of  personal  religion,  I trust 
that  the  day  is  coming  when  an  enlightened  world  shall 


THE  SILVER  SHRINES. 


403 


be  brought  to  acknowledge  how  the  authority  of  the  gospel 
is  paramount  to  all  the  imaginary  interests  of  trade — how 
its  pure  and  spiritual  law  should  set  aside  all  that  is  un- 
christian in  its  usages — how  there  is  not  one  corruption  of 
principle,  or  one  relaxation  from  that  simplicity  and  godly 
sincerity  which  it  bears  along  with  it,  that  the  high  and 
indispensable  morality  of  the  New  Testament  does  not  bid 
away, — that  all  its  practical  advantages  might  be  realized, 
though  its  votaries  were  all  thoroughly  pervaded  in  all 
their  desires  and  all  their  doings  by  the  spirit  of  the  gospel, 
— and  that  such  a moral  revolution,  so  far  from  arresting 
any  one  of  the  benefits  of  commerce,  would  give  prosperity 
to  all  her  movements,  and  make  those  comforts  which  fol- 
low in  her  train  to  flow  as  largely  as  ever  over  the  nations 
and  families  of  the  world. 


SERMON  XXVI. 

[The  date  of  this  sermon  I have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.] 


I.  CORINTHIANS  I.  25. 

“ The  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men.” 

Ip  it  be  thought  that  this  statement  serves  very  much  to 
reduce  the  importance  of  human  learning,  let  it  be  observed, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  still  to  human  learning  there  belongs 
an  important  function  in  the  matter  of  Christianity.  One 
does  not  need  to  be  the  subject  of  a material  impress  upon 
his  own  person  in  order  to  judge  of  the  accordancy  between 
the  device  that  is  submitted  to  his  notice  and  the  seal  that 
is  said  to  have  conveyed  it.  Both  may  be  foreign  to  him- 
self ; and  yet  he,  by  looking  to  the  one  and  to  the  other,  can 
see  whether  they  are  accurate  counterparts.  And,  in  like 
manner,  a man  of  sagacity  and  of  natural  acquirements  may 
never  have  received  upon  his  own  heart  that  impression 
of  the  Bible  which  the  Holy  Ghost  alone  has  strength  to 
effectuate.  But  still,  if  such  an  impression  be  offered  to  his 
notice  in  the  person  of  another,  he  may  be  able  both  to 
detect  the  spurious,  and  in  some  measure  to  recognize  the 
genuine  marks  of  correspondence  between  the  contents  of 
Scripture,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  creed  or  character  of 
its  professing  disciple,  on  the  other.  It  is  well  when  such 
a man  looks,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  written  word ; and 
by  aid  of  the  grammar  and  lexicon,  and  all  the  resources 
of  philology,  evinces  the  literal  doctrine  that  is  graven  # 
thereupon.  It  is  also  well  when  he  looks,  in  the  second 
instance,  to  the  human  subject,  and  by  aid  either  of  natural 
shrewdness  or  of  ajteen  metaphysical  inspection  into  the 
arcana  of  character,  drags  forth  to  light  that  moral  and  in- 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


405 


tellectual  picture  which  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible  is  said  to 
have  left  upon  the  soul.  If  there  be  a single  alleged  con- 
vert upon  earth  who  cannot  stand  such  a trial  when  fairly 
conducted,  he  is  a pretender,  and  wears  only  a counterfeit 
and  not  the  genuine  stamp  of  Christianity.  And  thus  it  is, 
that  he  who  has  no  part  whatever  in  the  teaching  that 
cometh  from  God — who  is  still  a natural  man,  and  has  not 
received  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  may,  to  a certain  extent, 
judge  the  pretensions  of  him  who  conceives  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  taken  of  the  things  of  Christ,  and  shown  them  to 
his  soul.  He  can  institute  a sound  process  of  comparison 
between  the  testimonies  of  Scripture,  which  a natural 
criticism  has  made  palpable  to  him,  and  those  traces  of  the 
soul  which  a natural  sagacity  of  observation  has  also  made 
palpable  to  him  ; and  without  himself  sharing  in  an  unction 
from  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  being  sealed  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
unto  a personal  meetness  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints, 
still  may  he  both  be  able  to  rectify  and  restrain  the  escapes 
of  fanaticism,  and  also  to  recall  the  departures  that  heresy 
is  making  from  the  law  and  from  the  testimony. 

The  work  of  Bishop  Horsley  against  Unitarianism  is  a 
work  which  erudition  and  natural  talent  are  quite  competent 
to  the  production  of.  It  is  the  fruit  of  a learned  and  labor- 
ious research  into  ecclesiastical  antiquities,  and  a vigorous 
argumentatious  application  of  the  materials  that  he  had 
gathered,  to  that  controversy  on  the  field  of  which  he 
obtained  so  proud  and  pre-eminent  a conquest.  We  would 
not  even  so  much  as  hazard  a conjecture  on  the  personal 
Christianity  of  this  able  and  highly  gifted  individual — we 
simply  affirm,  that  for  the  execution  of  the  important  service 
which  he  at  that  time  rendered  to  the  cause,  his  own  per- 
sonal Christianity  wa^  not  indispensable.  And  whether  or 
not,  by  the  means  of  a spiritual  discernment,  he  was  enabled 
to  take  off  from  the  inscribed  Christianity  of  the  record  an 
effectual  impression  of  it  upon  his  own  soul,  it  was  well  that, 
by  the  natural  expedients  of  profound  sense  and  profound 
scholarship,  he  cleared  away  that  cloud  in  which  his  anta- 
gonist, Dr.  Priestly,  might  have  shrouded  the  face  of  the 


406 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


record  both  from  the  natural  and  spiritual  discernment  of 
other  men.  It  is  possible  both  to  know  what  the  doctrine 
of  the  Bible  is,  and  most  skillfully  and  irresistibly  to  argu- 
ment it,  without  having  caught  the  impress  of  the  doctrine 
upon  our  own  soul.  It  is  possible  for  a man  not  to  have 
come  himself  into  effective  personal  contact  with  the  seal 
of  holy  writ,  and  yet  to  demonstrate  the  character  of  the 
seal,  and  purge  away  its  obscurities,  and  make  it  stand 
legibly  out,  which  it  must  do  ere  it  can  stand  impressively 
out  to  the  view  of  others.  There  are  many  who  look  with 
an  evil  eye  to  the  endowments  of  the  English  Church,  and 
to  the  indolence  of  her  dignitaries ; but  to  that  Church  the 
theological  literature  of  our  nation  stands  indebted  for  her 
best  acquisitions ; and  we  hold  it  a refreshing  spectacle,  at 
any  time  that  meager  Socianism  pours  forth  a new  supply 
of  flippancies  and  errors,  when  we  behold,  as  we  have  often 
done,  an  armed  champion  come  forth  in  full  equipment  from 
some  high  and  lettered  retreat  of  that  noble  hierarchy. 
Nor  can  we  grudge  her  the  wealth  of  all  her  endowments 
when  we  think  how  well,  under  her  venerable  auspices, 
the  battles  of  orthodoxy  have  been  fought,  that  in  this  holy 
warfare  they  are  her  sons  and  her  soldiers  who  have  been 
ever  foremost  in  the  field,  ready  at  all  times  to  face  the 
threatening  mischief,  and  by  the  might  of  their  ponderous 
erudition  to  overbear  it. 

But  if  human  talent  be  available  to  the  purpose  of  demon- 
strating the  character  of  the  seal,  it  is  also  in  so  far  avail- 
able to  the  purpose  of  judging  of  the  accuracy  of  the  im- 
pression. The  work,  perhaps,  which  best  exemplifies  this, 
is  that  of  President  Edwards  on  the  Conversions  of  New 
England,  and  in  which  he  proposes  to  estimate  their 
genuineness  by  comparing  the  marks  that  had  been  left 
on  the  person  of  the  disciple  with  the  marks  that  are  in- 
scribed on  the  book  of  the  law  and  of  the  testimony.  He 
was  certainly  much  aided  in  his  processes  of  discrimination 
upon  this  subject  by  the  circumstance  of  being  a genuine 
convert  himself,  and  so  of  being  furnished  with  materials 
for  the  judgment  in  his  own  heart,  and  that  stood  imme- 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


407 


diatelv  submitted  to  the  eye  of  his  own  consciousness.  But 
yet  no  one  could,  without  the  metaphysical  faculty  where- 
with nature  had  endowed  him,  have  conducted  so  subtle, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  sound  and  just  an  analysis  as  he 
has  done ; and  no  one  without  his  power  of  insight  among 
the  mysteries  of  our  nature — a power  which  belonged  to 
his  mind  according  to  its  original  conformation — could  have 
so  separated  the  authentic  operation  of  the  word  upon  the 
character  from  the  errors  and  the  impulses  of  human  fancy. 
It  is  true  that  none  but  a spiritual  man  could  have  taken  so 
minute  a survey  of  that  impression  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  affirmed  to  have  made  through  the  preaching  of  the 
word  upon  many  in  a season  of  general  awakening ; but 
few,  also,  are  the  spiritual  men  who  could  have  taken  so 
masterly  a survey,  and  that  just  because  they  wanted  the 
faculties  which  accomplish  their  possessor  for  a shrewd 
and  metaphysical  discernment  among  the  penetralia  of  the 
human  constitution.  It  is  thus  that  by  the  light  of  nature 
one  may  trace  the  characters  which  stand  out  upon  the 
seal — and  by  the  light  of  nature  one  may  be  helped  at  least 
to  trace  the  characters  that  are  left  upon  the  human  subject 
in  consequence  of  this  supernal  application.  Fanaticism  is 
kept  in  check  by  human  reason,  and  the  soberness  of  the 
faith  is  vindicated.  The  extravagancies  of  all  pretenders 
to  a spiritual  revelation  are  detected  and  made  manifest, 
and  the  true  disciple  stands  the  test  he  is  submitted  to,  even 
at  the  bar  of  the  natural  understanding. 

We  cannot  take  leave  of  Edwards  without  testifying  the 
whole  extent  of  the  reverence  that  we  bear  him.  On  the 
arena  of  metaphysics  he  stood  the  highest  of  all  his  contem- 
poraries, and  that  too  at  a time  when  Hume  was  aiming  his 
deadliest  thrusts  at  the  foundation  of  morality,  and  had 
thrown  over  the  infidel  cause  the  whole  eclat  of  his  reputa- 
tion. The  American  divine  affords  perhaps  the  most  won- 
drous example  in  modern  times  of  one  who  stood  richly 
gifted  both  in  natural  and  in  spiritual  discernment ; and  we 
know  not  what  most  to  admire  in  him — whether  the  deep 
philosophy  that  issued  from  his  pen,  or  the  humble  and 


408 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


child-like  piety  that  issued  from  his  pulpit — whether  when 
as  an  author,  he  deals  forth  upon  his  readers  the  subtleties 
of  a profound  argument,  or  when  as  a Christian  minister  he 
deals  forth  upon  his  hearers  the  simplicities  of  the  gospel — 
whether  it  is  when  we  witness  the  impression  that  he  made 
by  his  writings  on  the  schools  and  high  seats  of  literature, 
or  the  impression  that  he  made  by  his  unlabored  addresses 
on  the  plain  consciences  of  a plain  congregation.  In  the 
former  capacity  he  could  estimate  the  genuineness  of  the 
Christianity  that  had  before  been  fashioned  on  the  person 
of  a disciple — but  it  was  in  the  latter  capacity,  and  speaking 
of  him  as  an  instrument,  that  he  fashioned  it,  as  it  were,  with 
his  own  hands.  In  the  former  capacity  he  sat  in  judgment 
as  a critic  on  the  resemblance  that  there  was  between  the 
seal  of  God’s  word  and  the  impression  that  had  been  made 
on  the  fleshly  tablet  of  a human  heart.  In  the  latter  capacity 
he  himself  took  up  the  seal  and  gave  the  impressing  touch 
by  which  the  heart  is  conformed  unto  the  obedience  of  the 
faith.  The  former  was  a speculative  capacity,  under  which 
he  acted  as  a connoisseur  who  pronounced  on  the  accord- 
ancy  that  obtained  between  the  obedience  of  the  Bible  and 
the  character  that  had  been  submitted  to  its  influence.  The 
latter  was  an  executive  capacity,  under  which  he  acted  as 
a practitioner  who  brought  about  this  accordancy,  and  so 
handled  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  as  to  mold  and  to 
subordinate  thereunto  the  character  of  the  people  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal.  In  the  one  he  was  an  overseer 
who  inspected  and  gave  his  deliverance  on  the  quality  of 
another’s  work,  in  the  other  he  was  the  workman  himself 
— and  while  as  the  philosopher  he  could  discern,  and  discern 
truly,  between  the  sterling  and  the  counterfeit  in  Christian- 
ity, still  it  was  as  the  humble  and  devoted  pastor  that 
Christianity  was  made,  or  Christianity  was  multiplied  in 
his  hands. 

Now,  conceive  these  two  faculties  which  were  exempli- 
fied in  such  rare  and  happy  combination  in  the  person  of 
Edwards,  to  be  separated  the  one  from  the  other,  and  given 
respectively  to  two  individuals.  One  of  them  would  then 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN.  409 

be  so  gifted  as  that  he  could  apply  the  discriminating  tests 
by  which  to  judge  of  Christianity  — and  the  other  of  them 
would  be  so  gifted  as  that,  instrumentally  speaking,  he  could 
make  Christians.  One  of  them  could  do  what  Edwards  did 
from  the  press  — another  of  them  could  do  what  Edwards 
did  from  the  pulpit.  Without  such  judges  and  overseers 
as  the  former,  the  faith  of  the  Christian  world  might  be 
occasionally  disfigured  by  the  excesses  of  fanaticism  ; but 
without  such  agents  as  the  latter,  faith  might  cease  to  be 
found — and  the  abuses  be  got  rid  of  only  by  getting  rid  of 
the  whole  stock  upon  which  such  abuses  are  occasionally 
grafted.  It  is  here  that  Churches,  under  the  domination 
of  a worldly  and  unsanctified  priesthood,  are  apt  to  go 
astray.  They  confide  the  cause  wherewith  they  are  in- 
trusted to  the  merely  intellectual  class  of  laborers,  and  they 
have  overlooked,  or  rather  have  violently  and  impetuously 
resisted  the  operative  class  of  laborers.  They  conceive 
that  all  is  to  be  done  by  regulation,  and  that  nothing  but 
what  is  mischievous  is  to  be  done  by  impulse.  Their 
measures  are  generally  all  of  a sedative,  and  few  or  none 
of  them  of  a stimulating  tendency.  Their  chief  concern  is 
to  repress  the  pruriencies  of  religious  zeal,  and  not  to  excite 
or  foster  the  zeal  itself.  By  this  process  they  may  deliver 
their  Establishment  of  all  extravagances,  so  as  that  we 
shall  no  longer  behold  within  its  limits  any  laughable  or 
offensive  caricature  of  Christianity ; but  who  does  not  see 
that  by  this  process  they  may  also  deliver  the  Establish- 
ment of  Christianity  altogether — and  that  all  our  exhibitions  . 
of  genuine  godliness  may  be  made  to  disappear  under  the 
same  withering  influence  which  deadens  the  excrescences 
that  occasionally  spring  from  it.  It  is  quite  a possible 
thing  for  the  same  Church  to  have  a proud  complacency 
in  the  law,  and  argument,  and  professional  science  of  cer- 
tain of  its  ministers,  and  along  with  this  to  have  a proud 
contempt  for  the  pious  earnestness  and  pious  activity  of 
certain  other  of  its  ministers — in  other  words,  it  may  ap- 
plaud the  talent  by  which  Christianity  is  estimated,  but  dis- 
courage the  talent  by  which  Christianity  is  made  ; and  thus3 
VOL.  vi. — S 


410 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


while  it  continues  to  be  graced  by  the  literature  and  accom- 
plishments of  its  members,  may  it  come  to  be  reduced  into 
a kind  of  barren  and  useless  inefficiency  as  to  the  great 
practical  purposes  for  which  it  was  ordained. 

To  judge  of  an  impression  requires  one  species  of  talent 
— to  make  an  impression  requires  another.  They  both  may 
exist  in  very  high  perfection  with  the  same  individual,  as 
in  the  case  already  quoted ; but  they  may  also  exist  apart, 
and  often  in  particular  may  the  latter  of  the  two  be  found 
in  great  efficiency  and  vigor,  when  the  criticism  and  the 
metaphysics  necessary  to  complete  the  former  of  the  two 
may  be  entirely  wanting.  The  right  policy  of  a Church  is 
to  encourage  both  these  talents  to  the  uttermost,  and  not  to 
prevent  the  evils  of  a bad  currency  by  laying  such  an  ar- 
rest on  the  exercise  of  the  latter  talent  as  that  we  shall  have 
no  currency  at  all.  It  must  be  produced  ere  it  can  be  as- 
sayed ; and  it  is  possible  so  to  chill  and  to  discourage  the 
productive  faculty  in  our  Church  as  that  its  assaying  faculty 
shall  have  no  samples  on  which  to  sit  in  judgment.  This 
will  universally  be  the  result  in  every  Church  where  a high- 
toned  contempt  for  what  it  holds  to  be  fanaticism  is  the 
alone  principle  by  which  it  is  actuated,  and  where  a freez- 
ing negative  is  ever  sure  to  come  forth  on  all  those  activities 
which  serve  to  disturb  the  attitude  of  quiescence  into  which 
it  has  sunk  and  settled.  The  leading  measures  of  such  a 
Church  are  all  founded  on  the  imagination  that  the  religious 
tendencies  of  our  nature  are  so  exuberant  as  that  they  need 
to  be  kept  in  check,  instead  of  being  in  fact  so  dormant  as 
* that  they  need  work,  and  watchfulness,  and  all  that  is  stren- 
. uous  and  painstaking  in  the  office  of  an  evangelist,  for  the 
purpose  of  being  kept  alive.  The  true  Christian  policy  of 
a Church  is  to  avail  itself  of  all  the  zeal  and  all  the  energy 
which  are  to  be  found  both  among  its  ecclesiastics  and  its 
laymen  for  the  production  of  a positive  effect  among  our 
population — and  then,  should  folly  or  fanaticism  come  for- 
ward along  with  it,  fearlessly  to  confide  the  chastening  of 
all  this  exuberance  to  the  sense  and  the  scholarship,  and  the 
sound  intellectual  Christianity,  for  the  diffusion  of  which 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN.  4\> 

over  the  face  of  our  Establishment  the  Establishment  itself 
has  made  such  ample  provision.  Such  is  our  impression 
of  nature’s  lethargy  and  deadness,  that  we  are  glad  when 
anything  comes  forward,  that  we  are  pleased  to  behold  any 
symptoms  of  spiritual  life  or  vegetation  at  all ; and  so  far 
from  being  alarmed  by  the  rumors  of  a stir  and  a sensation 
and  an  enthusiasm  in  any  quarter  of  the  land,  we  are  ready 
to  hail  it  as  we  would  the  promise  of  some  coming  regene- 
ration. A policy  the  direct  opposite  of  this  is  often  the 
reigning  policy  of  a Church,  and  under  its  blasting  operation 
spurious  and  genuine  Christianity  are  alike  obliterated. 
The  work  of  pulling  up  the  tares  is  carried  on  so  furiously 
that  the  wheat  is  pulled  up  along  with  it ; the  vineyard  is 
rifled  of  its  goodliest  blossoms,  as  well  as  of  its  noxious  and 
pestilential  weeds ; and  thus  the  upshot  of  the  process  ol 
extirpating  fanaticism  may  be  to  turn  the  fruitful  field  into 
a wilderness,  and  spread  desolation  over  all  its  borders. 

A Church  so  actuated  does  nothing  but  check  the  excres- 
cences of  spiritual  growth,  and  may  do  it  so  effectually  as 
to  reduce  to  a naked  trunk  what  else  might  have  sent  forth 
its  clustering  branches,  and  yielded  in  goodly  abundance 
the  fruits  of  piety  and  righteousness.  There  is  no  positive 
strength  put  forth  by  it  on  the  side  of  vegetation,  but  all  on 
the  side  of  repressing  its  hated  overgrowth.  It  makes  use 
only  of  one  instrument,  and  that  is  the  pruning-hook,  as  if 
by  its  operation  aione  all  the  purposes  of  husbandry  could 
be  served.  Its  treatment  of  humanity  proceeds  on  such  an 
excessive  fertility  of  religion  in  the  human  heart,  that  all 
the  toil  and  strenuousness  of  ecclesiastics  must  be  given  to 
the  object  of  keeping  it  down,  and  so  confining  it  within 
the  limits  of  moderatism,  instead  of  such  a natural  barren- 
ness, that  this  toil  and  this  strenuousness  should  rather  be 
given  to  the  various  and  ever-plying  activities  of  an  evan 
gelist  who  is  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season.  It  is  thus 
that  the  outfield  of  sectarianism  may  exhibit  a totally  differ- 
ent aspect  from  the  inclosed  and  well-kept  garden  of  an 
Establishment.  In  the  former  there  may  be  a positive  and 
desirable  crop  along  with  the  weeds  and  rankness  which 


412 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


have  been  suffered  to  grow  up  unchastened.  In  the  latter 
there  may  be  nothing  that  offendeth,  save  the  one  deadly 
offense  of  a vineyard  so  cleansed  and  purified  and  thwarted 
in  all  its  vegetative  tendencies,  as  to  offer  from  one  end  to 
the  other  of  it  one  unvaried  expanse  of  earthliness. 

We  therefore  do  wrong  in  laying  such  a weight  of  dis- 
couragement on  the  laborers  who  produce — and  throwing 
the  mantle  of  our  protection  and  kindness  only  over  the  la- 
borers who  prune.  And  what,  it  may  be  asked,  are  the 
ingredients  of  mightiest  effect  in  the  character  and  talents 
of  a productive  laborer?  They  are  not  his  scholarship, 
and  not  his  critical  sagacity  of  discernment  into  the  obscuri- 
ties of  Scripture,  and  not  his  searching  or  satirical  insight 
among  the  mysteries  of  the  human  constitution.  With  these 
he  may  be  helped  to  estimate  the  Christianity  that  has  been 
formed,  and  to  lop  off  its  unseemly  excrescences,  but  with 
these  alone  he  will  never  positively  rear  on  the  foundation 
of  nature  the  edifice  itself.  This  requires  another  set  of 
qualifications,  which  may  or  may  not  exist  along  with  that 
artificial  learning  to  which  we  trust  an  adequate  homage 
has  been  already  rendered  by  us. 

We  have  already  done  homage  to  the  importance  of  hu- 
man learning  on  this  matter.  It  acts  as  a fly  to  regulate 
the  operation,  but  it  is  not  the  power  which  gives  impulse 
to  the  operation.  For  the  putting  forth  of  this  power  we 
must  look  to  men  who  bear  upon  their  own  hearts  the  im- 
press of  Christianity,  whether  they  are  with  or  without  a 
very  high  and  artificial  scholarship.  We  must  look  to  those 
who  have  the  Spirit  themselves,  and  who  have  power  in 
their  intercessions  with  God,  and  prevail  so  as  to  obtain  the 
Spirit  for  others.  We  must  look  to  those  on  whom  the 
simple  essentials  of  the  Bible  have  made  their  practical  im- 
pression, and  who  through  the  very  process  of  enlightening 
which  they  have  experienced  in  their  own  souls,  are  able 
to  reflect  that  process  back  again  on  the  souls  of  those  in 
whose  behalf  they  are  laboring.  And  we  repeat  it,  that  in 
both  of  our  established  Churches  there  is  a high-toned  con- 
tempt, not  for  that  agency  which  can  learnedly  demonstrate 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


413 


the  characters  of  the  Bible,  or  cast  a shrewd  and  intellectual 
regard  on  the  impression  that  has  been  made  by  it,  but  for 
that  agency  which  takes  up  the  Bible  and  actually  makes 
the  impression — for  that  unlettered  Methodism  which  in 
England  has  wrought  its  miracles,  not  of  imaginary  but  of 
substantial  grace  upon  the  people — for  that  Sabbath  teach- 
ing which,  in  the  hands  of  lay  Christians,  promised  fair  in 
our  own  country  to  be  a mighty  instrument  for  reclaiming 
the  population  of  our  cities  from  the  habits  of  profaneness 
and  profligacy  into  which  they  have  wandered. 

There  is  a disposition  on  the  part  of  official  and  formally 
constituted  ecclesiastics  to  regard  such  men  as  the  quacks 
or  empirics  of  theology,  who  have  not  had  the  benefit  of 
their  finished  education,  who  belong  not  to  the  regular  fac- 
ulty, and  of  whom  therefore  it  may  be  feared  that  they  are 
the  bearers  of  deleterious  poison  which  acts  with  mischiev- 
ous effect  on  the  moral  and  intellectual  health  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  peasantry — those  ready  dupes  of  imposture 
whether  in  divinity  or  in  medicine.  They  forget  that  there 
is  not  a perfect  resemblance  between  these  two  professions 
— that  while  in  the  one  human  science  works  the  whole 
practical  effect,  in  the  other  human  science  works  none  of 
it — that  they  are  very  plain  doctrines  of  the  Word,  which 
are  as  accessible  to  the  mind  of  a peasant  as  of  a philoso- 
pher, urged  home  with  efficacy  by  God’s  Spirit — that  Spirit 
which  is  surely  as  ready  to  be  given  to  the  ministrations  of 
humble  piety  as  of  accomplished  learning,  seeing  that  God 
resisteth  the  proud  and  giveth  grace  to  the  humble — that  it 
is  thus  that  Christians  are  actually  made  and  multiplied  in 
our  land.  And  thus  we  fear  that,  in  the  contempt  with  which 
in  both  our  Establishments  all  the  activities  of  religious  zeal 
are  now-a-days  regarded — in  the  intolerance  which  they 
feel  towards  our  more  ardent  and  painstaking  operatives  in 
the  cause,  the  Churches  of  both  countries,  while  they  retain 
the  literary  accomplishment  which  has  so  long  adorned 
them,  may  wither  into  a kind  of  barren  and  useless  ineffi- 
ciency as  to  the  great  practical  purposes  for  which  they 
were  ordained.  And  that  mighty  work  of  agency,  which 


414 


THE  FOOLISHNESS  OF  GOD  WISER  THAN  MEN. 


if  they  were  each  to  employ  within  their  own  bosom,  might 
be  turned  to  so  mighty  an  account  in  the  work  of  convert- 
ing and  moralizing  our  people,  may  either  be  discouraged 
into  apathy  or  driven  beyond  the  pale  of  the  Establishment 
— may  transfer  to  others  the  whole  glory  of  extending  and 
keeping  alive  the  Christianity  of  our  nation. 


SERMON  XXVII. 


[Preached  at  Glasgow,  in  June,  1817.] 

COLOSSIANS  IV.  1. 

* Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal ; knowing  that  ye  also 
have  a Master  in  heaven.” 

It  is  very  observable  of  Christianity,  that  while  at  one 
time  it  equalizes  all  the  various  ranks  and  orders  of  life,  at 
another  it  presses  the  performance  of  such  duties,  and  the 
practice  of  such  submissions  upon  the  lower  orders,  as  would 
seem  to  recognize  a wider  distinction  between  one  man  and 
his  fellow  than  was  ever  contended  for  by  the  most  grovel- 
ing minions  of  despotism.  It  tells  us  of  the  essential  equality 
of  all  men.  It  is  ever  coming  into  contact  with  the  most 
striking  and  important  points  of  this  equality.  It,  with  an 
intrepid  disregard  of  all  the  power  and  of  all  the  grandeur 
of  this  world,  delivers  such  doctrines  as  are  most  humiliat- 
ing to  the  pride  of  the  wealthy,  and  as  are  most  elevating 
to  the  hopes  and  most  sustaining  to  the  dignity  of  the  poor. 
This  is  a distinction  which  it  makes  little  account  of — when 
employed  on  those  commanding  generalities  of  the  species, 
which  form  the  great  theme  of  the  revelation  from  God  to 
the  world.  And  whether  it  adverts  to  the  birth  of  man  or 
to  his  dissolution — to  the  state  of  nakedness  in  which  he 
came  into  the  world,  or  to  the  state  of  nakedness  in  which 
we  go  out  of  it — to  the  corruption  of  the  body  after  death, 
or  its  resurrection  to  the  judgment-seat — to  the  common  re- 
lationship of  all  with  our  Lawgiver,  or  the  common  need 
and  dependence  of  all  upon  one  Saviour — in  a word,  whether 
it  adverts  to  the  infirmities  of  our  present  condition,  or  to 
our  capacities  for  the  bliss  and  the  immortality  of  another 
--in  all  these  cases  does  it  overlook  the  varieties  of  rank 


416 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


and  of  fortune,  and  viewing  the  whole  brotherhood  of  man- 
kind as  the  members  of  one  common  family,  does  it  speak 
the  same  language  to  all,  and  hold  out  to  all  the  same  offers 
and  the  same  invitations  and  the  same  injunctions. 

But  one  striking  attribute  of  the  Christian  revelation  is, 
that  it  leaves  no  one  condition  of  humanity  unprovided  for. 
It  not  merely  provides  a rule  and  a doctrine  for  man  in  the 
general,  but  it  has  also  its  rules  and  its  doctrines  for  all  the 
leading  specialities  of  office  and  of  station  which  occur  in 
society.  And  when,  in  particular,  it  condescends  upon  the 
duties  of  a servant,  which  it  repeatedly  does,  one  were  apl 
to  think  that  it  assigns  him  to  such  a depth  of  humiliation 
as  to  inflict  a positive  outrage  on  the  rights  of  our  common 
nature.  I am  not  adverting  to  the  duty  of  not  purloining 
— for  this  is  not  an  apposite  exemplification  of  the  remark 
— this  duty  forming  only  part  of  a fair  and  equal  interchange 
of  obligation  between  the  parties.  But  what  are  we  to  think 
of  servants  being  enjoined  to  obey  their  masters  in  all  things, 
and  instead  of  doing  so  in  the  spirit  of  a grumbling  reluc- 
tance, to  do  it  heartily  and  cheerfully,  and  of  good-will? 
What  are  we  to  think  of  servants,  subject  as  they  are  to  the 
outbreaking  of  the  most  unmerited  and  ungenerous  abuse 
from  their  masters,  being  called  upon  not  to  answer  again? 
Nay,  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  passive  and  the  peaceful 
demeanor  they  are  called  upon  to  observe,  and  that  not 
merely  when  they  suffer,  but  when  they  suffer  wrongfully? — 
of  their  being  told  that  it  is  not  enough  that  they  take  it 
patiently  when  they  are  buffeted  for  their  faults,  but  that 
they  should  take  it  patiently  even  when  they  do  well  and 
are  buffeted  ? Oh  ! how  after  the  burden  of  such  an  indig- 
nity as  this,  can  the  condition  of  a servant  be  redeemed 
from  the  imputation  of  being  indeed  the  most  disgracefully 
ignoble  that  any  son  or  daughter  of  humanity  can  fill! 
What  security  is  there  for  the  protection  and  the  privilege 
of  this  numerous  class  of  society  ? and  what  remaineth 
either  to  exalt  their  office,  or  to  sustain  the  spirit  of  its  oc- 
cupier, if  it  shall  thus  be  thrown  open  and  defenseless  to 
he  caprices  of  every  petty  tyrant,  and  no  resistance  be 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


417 


allowed  to  the  wantonness  and  the  willfulness  of  his  mani- 
fold provocations? 

And  yet,  my  brethren,  the  spirit  of  a servant  never  reach- 
eth  to  a truer  or  more  noble  elevation  than  when — keeping 
down  the  tendencies  of  nature  in  submission  to  the  will  of 
Christ — he  maintains  an  uncomplaining  patience  under  all 
the  wrongs  and  all  the  severities  which  are  inflicted  upon 
him — and  when  instead  of  resisting  any  insult  or  any  aggra- 
vation he  may  meet  with,  he  offers  it  up  in  silence  unto  the 
Lord.  He  never  stands  upon  higher  ground  than  when  this 
is  his  conduct  and  these  are  the  principles  upon  which  he 
rests  it.  He  never  so  strikingly  puts  forth  the  high  attitude 
of  a Being  who  is  immortal,  and  who  knows  his  immor- 
tality, as  when,  upon  his  path  being  crossed  by  injury,  he 
mildly  forbears  all  anger,  and  resolutely  bridling  the  ex- 
pression of  it,  quietly  commits  his  judgment  unto  God.  His 
mind  is  never  so  filled  with  sublime  anticipations,  nor  do  the 
movements  of  his  inner  man  ever  betoken  so  much  of  the 
true  sense  and  soul  of  dignity,  as  when,  looking  up  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  his  master,  and  looking  forward  to  the 
reward  of  the  inheritance,  and  fired  with  the  ambition  of 
adorning  the  doctrine  of  the  Saviour  in  all  things,  and  hav- 
ing the  Spirit  of  glory  and  of  God  resting  on  him,  he  can 
move  his  duteous  and  unruffled  way  amid  the  injustice  of  a 
master’s  exactions,  or  the  still  more  galling  injustice  of  a 
master’s  unmerited  reproaches  and  unmerited  frowns.  The 
long-suffering  of  a Christian  servant  may  in  these  circum- 
stances look  a tame  and  a pusillanimous  thing  to  those  who 
look  to  it  with  this  world’s  eyes,  and  pass  their  judgment  on 
it  upon  the  world’s  principles ; but  I am  quite  sure,  that  in 
the  high  estimate  of  eternity,  a servant  never  makes  a greater 
exhibition  of  character,  or  reaches  to  a nearer  resemblance 
of  the  Godhead  Himself,  than  when  he  comes  off  a con- 
querer  from  such  a trial  of  the  charity  that  endureth — and 
when  I put  him  by  the  side  of  the  fretful  oppressor,  who  is 
either  so  unprincipled  as  to  defraud  him,  or  so  outrageous 
as  to  be  ever  and  anon  pursuing  him  with  his  restless  and 
vindictive  effusions,  neither  my  reverence  for  his  superior 


418 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


wealth,  nor  for  the  chair  of  little  brief  authority  on  which 
he  sits,  can  restrain  me  from  offering  to  the  attendant  who 
toils  beside  him  the  tribute  of  a more  honorable  testimony, 
and  the  homage  of  a profounder  reverence. 

But  this  is  not  all  which  Christianity  has  done  for  that 
humble  class  of  society  whose  cause  every  minister  of  Christ- 
ianity should  rejoice  to  advocate.  It  has  not  merely  digni- 
fied the  character  of  the  believing  servant,  by  supplying  him 
with  prospects  which  serve  to  cover  and  nobly  to  redeem 
all  the  wrongs  and  provocations  that  may  be  laid  on  him  in 
this  world — wherever  its  influences  extend,  it  establishes  in 
behalf  of  the  servant  a firmer  protection  than  can  be  done 
by  any  one  of  the  artificial  institutions  of  society.  Law 
may  shield  him  from  the  grosser  violations  that  are  made 
on  his  person  or  his  property ; but  law  cannot  enter  under 
his  master’s  roof,  and  there  protect  him  from  the  countless 
ills  of  domestic  tyranny.  It  cannot  lay  its  restraints  on  the 
tone,  or  the  habit,  or  the  manner  of  a domineering  insolence. 
It  cannot  forbid  the  constant  harassings  of  peevishness.  It 
cannot  soften  or  relax  the  brooding  scowl  of  displeasure. 
It  cannot  put  an  interdict  on  those  haughty  expressions  of 
imperiousness  or  disdain  which  are  felt  by  many  a servant 
to  be  a greater  hardship  than  all  the  drudgery  that  is  laid 
upon  him.  It  cannot  make  it  imperative  upon  his  superior 
ever  to  feel  in  his  heart  a cordiality  towards  all  his  domes- 
tics, and  ever  to  maintain  in  all  his  intercourse  with  them 
a discreet  and  a kindly  utterance.  It  cannot  thus  sweeten 
the  toils  of  his  employment,  or  make  his  burden  feel  light 
unto  him.  But  what  law  cannot  do  for  him,  Christianity 
can  do.  It  can  enter  his  master’s  conscience.  It  can  pour 
its  influence  over  all  the  exercises  of  his  history.  It  can 
subordinate  him  wholly  to  the  authority  of  its  doctrines  and 
its  laws.  It  prescribes  a duty  to  the  master  as  well  as  to 
the  servant ; and  there  is  not  an  injunction  which  it  lays 
upon  the  latter,  without  a counterpart  injunction  which  it 
lays  as  bindingly  and  as  imperatively  upon  the  former.  If 
you  are  charged  against  the  act  of  trespassing  upon  their 
Droperty  by  purloining  it — they  are  as  expressly  charged 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


419 


not  to  withhold  from  you  any  rightful  claim,  but  to  give  you 
those  things  which  are  just  and  equal.  If  you,  on  the  one 
hand,  are  forbidden  to  answer  again — they,  on  the  other, 
are  forbidden  the  use  of  all  insolent  and  abusive  language. 
Ye  masters,  do  the  same  things  to  them  which  I now  enjoin 
them  to  do  unto  you,  forbearing  threatening.  If  you  are 
reminded  of  your  relation  to  Christ  as  His  servant,  they  are 
also  reminded  of  the  very  same  relation,  and  are  taught  to 
recollect  how  they  have  a Master  in  heaven,  and  how 
with  Him  there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  And  finally,  if 
you  are  not  to  presume  upon  this  equality  because  you 
have  believing  masters,  but  rather  on  that  account  to  do 
them  service — they,  on  the  other  hand,  are  to  have  a con- 
stant respect  to  the  consideration  that  you  are  brethren, 
and  heirs  of  the  same  hope,  and  fellow-travelers  to  the 
same  eternity. 

Thus  let  Christianity  find  an  entrance  among  you,  and  all 
will  be  righted.  It  will  do  more  both  for  peace  and  for  en- 
joyment than  can  be  done  by  any  political  adjustment  what- 
ever. It  reaches  where  law  cannot  reach,  and  goes  greatly 
beyond  it  in  the  provision  which  it  makes  both  for  the  re- 
spect that  should  be  awarded  to  the  higher,  and  for  the  in- 
dulgence and  security  that  should  be  extended  to  the  lower 
orders  of  society.  It  disposes  the  former  party  to  concede 
a great  deal  more  than  would  satisfy  the  latter,  and  the  lat- 
ter party  to  submit  in  patience  to  a great  deal  more  than 
would  ever  be  claimed  or  exerted  by  the  former.  All  that 
can  be  achieved  by  a legal  or  political  contest  is,  that  the 
parties  meet  each  other  half-way — all  it  can  do  is  to  draw 
a rigid  line  of  demarkation,  beyond  which  neither  party  is 
to  pass  without  the  outcry  of  resentment  being  lifted  up  by 
the  other,  or  the  proceedings  of  resistance  being  entered 
upon.  Give  me  the  most  pure  and  efficient  system  of  law 
in  a country  without  Christianity,  and  you  may  see  the 
parties  standing  where  they  should  be,  but  standing  in  the 
proud  attitude  of  defiance,  and  regarding  each  other  with 
the  haughty  feelings  of  jealousy  and  disdain.  Give  me 
Christianity,  and  in  addition  to  all  the  securities  of  law. 


420 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


which  in  no  wise  or  enlightened  country  will  ever  be  neg- 
lected, you  will  see  each  party  going  beyond  the  rigid  line 
of  equality,  ana  that  not  for  the  sake  of  any  selfish  acquire- 
ment to  itself,  but  for  the  sake  of  some  free  and  generous 
concession  to  others.  You  will  see  the  limit  of  strict  reci- 
procity often  disregarded  and  trodden  upon — not,  however, 
in  the  way  of  encroachment,  but  in  the  way  of  kind  and 
effusive  liberality  ; and  instead  of  a wall  of  partition,  guard- 
ed with  fearful  vigilance  by  those  who  stand  on  the  respect- 
ive sides  of  it,  would  you  see  them  mingling  together  as 
a wide  and  common  species,  and  even  going  beyond  the 
rigor  of  integrity  in  the  exercise  of  all  the  humilities  of 
the  gospel,  and  in  the  fair  flow  and  indulgence  of  all  its 
charities. 

But  I must  not  forget  that  the  text  only  speaks  of  those 
things  which  are  just  and  equal,  and  that  it  therefore  con- 
fines me  to  the  duty  which  lies  upon  masters  not  to  tres- 
pass on  the  line  of  equity  in  their  dealings  with  their  serv- 
ants— not  to  exceed  in  their  demands  upon  them  the  terms 
of  their  agreement,  and  not  to  fall  short  of  those  terms  in 
the  awarded  remuneration — not  to  exact  more  work  from 
the  servant  than  was  either  specified  by  the  express  stipu- 
lation, or  than  the  general  habits  of  the  place  rendered  a 
matter  of  clear  and  honest  understanding  between  the  par- 
ties— not  to  fall  short  in  the  amount  of  the  payment,  or  what 
is  of  mighty  importance  to  the  comfort  of  a laboring  family, 
not  to  come  behind  the  time  of  the  payment  of  the  wages 
that  are  due  to  him.  In  a word,  were  I to  ramify  the  text 
into  all  its  applications,  I might  urge  it  upon  you  masters  to 
be  punctual  in  all  your  transactions  with  those  who  are  be- 
neath you— amid  all  the  laxity  and  delay  and  cravings  for 
a little  more  indulgence  which  are  so  usual  in  the  world  of 
merchandise,  to  struggle  that  your  servants  at  least  shall 
not  suffer  from  the  operation  of  such  a habit- — to  make  at 
all  times  a determined  exception  in  behalf  of  those  who 
have  the  whole  of  their  subsistence  depending  on  the  wages 
they  so  hardly  earn  from  you — to  make  it  a primary  and 
indispensable  point  of  obligation  that  their  claims  shall  be 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


421 


attended  to,  and  rather  than  that  a single  dependent  should 
remain  unpaid,  to  make  every  retrenchment  upon  your  lux- 
uries and  your  comforts ; and  above  all,  what  more  fre- 
quently disables  a man  from  doing  justice  to  those  whom  he 
employs  than  anything  else,  to  make  a most  strict  and  con- 
scientious retrenchment  upon  your  speculations. 

But  the  occurrence  of  the  term  speculation  suggests  to 
me  one  remark,  which  I beg  to  come  forward  with.  You 
will  most  readily  grant  that  you  have  no  right,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  regaling  your  appetite  for  delicacies,  to  keep  a 
costlier  table  than  you  are  able  to  defray,  and  thus  for  the 
sake  of  a present  indulgence,  to  trench  upon  that  fund  out 
of  which  your  servants  should  obtain  the  full  and  regular 
amount  of  their  wages.  Now  extend  this  principle. — You 
have  no  right,  for  the  purpose  of  regaling  your  avaricious 
desires  after  a fortune,  to  embark  on  a costlier  speculation 
than  is  warranted  by  your  capabilities  and  your  means,  and 
thus  for  the  sake  of  a future  prospect  to  put  to  hazard  the 
maintenance  of  all  those  families  whose  fathers  you  have 
pressed  into  the  service  of  your  ambition.  You  have  no 
right  to  put  to  a desperate  throw,  I will  not  say  your  own 
wrealth,  but  those  numerous  pittances  which,  in  the  shape 
of  unpaid  work,  constitute  the  dependence  and  the  all  of 
those  artificers  whom  you  may  seduce  to  share  in  the  risk, 
and  whom  you  may  involve  in  the  ruin  of  some  rash  and 
delusive  enterprise.  If  it  be  a piece  of  the  most  selfish 
inconsideration  toward  the  servant  whom  you  hire,  or  to- 
ward the  dealer  from  whom  you  buy,  to  dress  more  mag- 
nificently, or  to  build  more  magnificently,  or  to  entertain 
more  magnificently,  than  is  consistent  with  the  power  of 
punctually  discharging  the  wages  of  the  one  or  the  accounts 
of  the  other — then  be  assured,  my  brethren,  that  it  is  in 
every  way  as  substantial,  and  I am  sure  as  calamitous  a 
piece  of  injustice  to  the  workmen  of  this  city,  to  trade  more 
magnificently  than  on  every  principle  of  sober-minded  com- 
putation is  consistent  with  the  power  of  rendering  to  them 
the  stipulated  return  for  the  service  they  have  yielded.  In 
calling  upon  you  to  repress  thi3  spirit  of  adventure,  and  to 


422 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


confine  your  measures  within  the  compass  of  your  means, 
I am  pleading  their  cause — I am  pointing  your  eye  to  a 
moral  check  upon  that  mischievous  spirit  of  ambition  which 
I honestly  believe  to  be  the  main  cause  of  the  sufferings  of 
our  country — I am  telling  you  that  he  who  hasteth  to  be 
rich  not  only  pierces  himself  through  with  many  sorrows, 
but  involves  himself  in  the  guilt  of  many  crimes — that  among 
others  he  commits  an  act  of  cruelty 'upon  those  whom  he 
has  induced  to  follow  in  the  train  of  his  personal  aggrandize- 
ment— that,  be  it  with  thoughtlessness  or  be  it  with  deliber- 
ation, he  has,  for  the  sake  of  self,  committed  the  interest  of 
the  poor  man  and  of  the  laborer  to  an  ocean  of  dark  and 
hazardous  contingencies — that  he,  and  such  as  he,  are 
deeply  responsible  for  those  successive  tides  of  adversity 
which  set  in  at  intervals  upon  the  land — and  that  though 
every  future  harvest  should  pour  abundance  into  our  gran- 
aries, and  every  future  Parliament  should  glow  with  virtu- 
ous and  enlightened  patriotism,  and  every  future  adminis- 
tration should  give  its  unwearied  labors  to  the  cause  of 
freedom  and  the  best  interests  of  the  people,  yet  with  this 
single  corruption  in  the  hearts  of  private  individuals — with 
this  rancorous  and  unbridled  fervency  of  desire  after  wealth 
venting  itself  forth  on  extravagant  speculation — with  this 
sanguine  and  adventurous  spirit  which  outruns  calculation, 
and  dashes  its  impetuous  way,  unmindful  of  the  ruin  which 
it  scatters  among  the  habitations  of  industry — with  this,  I 
say,  in  as  tumultuous  and  unchecked  operation  as  ever,  we 
shall  be  doomed  to  see  still  what  we  have  seen  before — 
the  ebbs  and  the  flows  of  an  unceasing  alternation — at 
one  time  the  feverish  career  of  giddy  and  high-flown  enter- 
prise, and  at  another  the  sure  visitation  of  distress,  with 
all  the  bitterness  of  its  outcries  and  all  the  gloom  of  its 
forebodings. 

Suffer  me  one  word  more  upon  this  part  of  my  subject. 
I know  as  well  as  you  that  misfortune,  the  pure  and  single 
operation  of  misfortune,  may  entail  even  on  a Christian 
merchant  the  adversity  of  a ruinous  and  unlooked-for  visit- 
ation. And  therefore  it  is  not  for  us  to  point  the  finger  of 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


423 


condemnation  at  any  individual,  but  it  is  our  part  to  bear  in 
mind  how  it  is  to  another  that  he  standeth  or  falleth;  and 
we  in  humility  and  charity  should  abstain  from  the  exercise 
of  judgment  on  individual  cases,  and  in  no  one  case  forget 
how  the  misfortunes  of  the  virtuous  ought  with  every 
generous  bosom  to  place  them  on  a higher  elevation  of 
respect  than  before,  and  to  draw  toward  them  a more 
affecting  sentiment  both  of  tenderness  and  veneration.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  you  know  as  well  as  I do,  that  misfortune 
is  not  the  alone  cause  of  vicissitude  in  the  history  of  busi- 
ness— that  there  is  such  a thing  as  a spirit  of  illegitimate 
adventure,  which,  being  the  very  spirit  of  idolatry  to  the 
world,  comes  within  the  scope  of  those  denunciations  which 
ought  to  be  thundered  from  the  pulpit  on  every  shade  and 
degree  of  ungodliness ; and  that  while  we  mean  not  the 
slightest  insinuation  against  a single  person  concerned  in 
these  transactions,  this  general  spirit  ought  to  be  contended 
with  and  exposed  in  all  its  culpability,  and  protested  against 
not  merely  on  account  of  its  character,  but  on  account  of 
its  consequences,  as  a spirit  which  in  itself  argues  an  utter 
devotedness  to  the  creature,  and  which  in  effect  robs  many 
an  industrious  and  deserving  family  of  their  just  and  equal 
expectations. 

1 conclude  my  present  remarks  upon  this  text  with  an 
observation  which  I think  will  recommend  itself  to  your 
own  experience  of  human  life  and  character.  You  will 
perceive  that  the  apostle  is  giving  the  advice  of  my  text  to 
his  own  formed  and  educated  Christians.  He  is  asking 
those  who  were  masters  among  the  members  of  the  Church 
at  Colosse  to  give  such  things  as  are  just  and  equal  to  their 
servants,  and  he  recommends  this  advice  by  a most  affect- 
ing and  at  the  same  time  an  exclusively  religious  motive, 
“ You  know  that  you  have  a Master  in  heaven” — one 
to  whom  you  are  looking  up  for  the  reward  of  your 
services — one  who  as  He  has  said  that  as  you  forgive 
others,  so  will  you  be  forgiven,  also  says,  that  with  what 
measure  you  mete  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again ; and 
have  a care  lest  by  the  act  of  withholding  from  your  serv- 


424 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


ants  their  just  and  lawful  right,  your  Master  who  is  in 
heaven  shall  on  the  great  day  of  account  lay  upon  you 
some  awful  visitation  of  remembrance  and  retribution. 
Observe,  then,  that  all  this  right  and  becoming  conduct 
which  he  is  prescribing  to  masters,  is  conduct  subordinated 
to  the  influence  of  a religious  consideration,  and  the  power 
of  a religious  motive.  Now,  it  so  happens  that  in  this 
highly  liberal  and  cultivated  country  there  are  many  who 
require  the  operation  of  no  such  motive  to  incline  them  to 
all  the  more  obvious  and  ordinary  acts  of  justice  toward 
their  servants  and  inferiors.  There  is  positively  a very 
great  number  of  men  whom  I could  name,  and  whom  I 
could  not  call  Christians,  and  yet. who  at  the  same  time 
could  not  find  it  in  their  hearts  to  disappoint  the  just  expect- 
ations of  their  dependents,  or  to  fall  by  a single  iota  behind 
the  fulfillment  of  their  more  obvious  and  ordinary  claims. 
I have  seen  men  who,  without  Christianity  at  all,  would 
positively  quiver  with  indignation  at  the  idea  of  a poor 
man  and  his  family  being  reft  of  their  dues.  They,  by  a 
pure  movement  of  generosity,  would  cheerfully  undertake 
their  cause — they  would  spurn  with  their  whole  soul  taking 
any  advantage  whatever  of  a servant’s  helplessness  or  a 
servant’s  simplicity ; and  to  them  the  meanness  and  the 
inhumanity  of  such  a proceeding  would  altogether  appear 
so  odious  as  positively  to  revolt  them  against  the  imagin- 
ation of  it.  All  this,  you  will  observe,  without  Christianity 
• — without  the  impulse  of  any  such  motive  as  is  supplied  by 
a reference  to  God  as  our  Master  who  is  in  heaven — with- 
out the  mingling,  in  fact,  of  any  religion  in  the  business  at 
all,  but  by  the  pure  force  of  such  a natural  generosity  of 
heart  as  is,  to  speak  the  truth,  very  prevalent  in  this  our 
age  among  the  higher  orders  of  society.  Now,  for  the  sake 
of  the  important  theological  lesson  upon  which  this  question 
bears,  let  me  observe,  that  the  general  spirit  of  one  age  is 
often  more  favorable  to  the  growth  of  certain  accomplish- 
ments of  character  than  the  general  spirit  of  another  age, 
and  that  such  is  the  influence  of  this  general  spirit  in  the 
way  of  example  and  of  repetition  as  to  beget  certain  social 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


425 


and  humane  virtues,  independently  of  the  operation  of  any 
religious  principle  whatever  ; and  that  thus  what  would 
need  the  stimulus  of  a Christian  motive  in  some  former 
generation,  might  in  the  present  generation  be  very  exten- 
sively practiced  without  the  operation  of  any  such  motive 
at  all.  It  marks  a very  rude  and  untamed  state  of  society 
in  the  days  of  the  apostle,  that  in  his  Epistles  to  Timothy 
and  Titus,  he  should  find  it  necessary  to  lay  it  down,  with 
the  authority  of  inspiration,  as  one  of  the  requisites  of  a 
good  bishop,  that  he  should  be  no  striker.  A Christian 
motive  was  necessary,  it  would  appear,  to  keep  a bishop  of 
those  days  from  doing  a thing  which  any  bishop  or  minister 
now-a-days  would  be  restrained  from  doing  by  a sense  of 
its  utter  vulgarity  and  disgracefulness.  A good  bishop  of 
those  days  would  not  do  the  thing  because  he  saw  a pro- 
hibition against  it  in  the  writings  of  the  apostle,  and  to  do 
it  in  the  face  of  this  prohibition  wTould  be  ungodly.  But 
any  bishop,  good  or  not,  of  the  present  day,  would  not  do 
the  thing  because,  whether  he  saw  the  prohibition  or  not  in 
the  book  of  God,  he  feels  all  the  power  of  a prohibition  in 
the  general  standard  of  manners,  and  to  do  it  in  the  face 
of  this  standard  would  be  ungentlemanly.  I bring  this  for- 
ward merely  in  the  wray  of  illustration.  For  the  truth  is, 
that  in  respect  tff  the  duty  of  my  text,  too,  the  sense  of  the 
age  has  undergone  a wondrous  revolution,  and  has  been 
greatly  softened  and  liberalized  since  the  apostle’s  days. 
If  the  picture  which  James  gives  of  the  rich  men  of  his 
time  were  to  be  realized  on  an  individual  now,  it  would 
have  the  effect  of  making  that  individual  an  outcast  from 
society.  Were  a man  only  convicted  of  keeping  back  by 
fraud  the  hire  of  his  laborers,  it  would  bring  down  upon 
him  the  execration  of  his  fellows  as  well  as  the  denunci- 
ations of  God’s  outraged  law.  The  latter  motive  might  be 
essential  to  the  restraining  of  men  from  this  cruelty  in  cases 
where  the  former  motive  had  no  operation ; but  where  the 
former  motive  has  operation,  as  it  has  to  a very  great  and 
general  extent  in  our  own  country,  then  without  the  oper- 
ation of  the  latter  motive  at  all — or,  in  other  words,  without 


426 


DUTIES  OF  MASTERS  AND  SERVANTS. 


one  particle  of  homage  to  the  author  of  Christianity,  might 
we  see  men  exhibit  a most  rigid  adherence  to  the  duty  of 
my  text,  spurning  with  a quick  sense  of  honor  the  idea  of 
any  departure  from  it,  most  faithfully  acting  up  to  all  the 
ordinary  claims  and  expectations  of  their  dependents,  and 
earning  a character  in  society  as  the  most  humane  and 
righteous  and  honorable  of  its  members. 


SERMON  XXVIII. 


[The  date  attached  to  the  original  short-hand  manuscript  of  this  sermon 
s October  31,  1822.  Between  this  date  and  that  of  the  discourse  imme- 
diately preceding,  the  reader  will  perceive  that  an  interval  of  more  than  five 
years  occurs — an  interval  which  he  is  to  imagine  as  filled  up  by  those  dis- 
courses which  have  already  been  published.] 

ZE  CHARI  AH  VII.  13. 

“Therefore  it  is  come  to  pass,  that  as  he  cried,  and  they  would  not  hear ; so  they  cried, 
and  I would  not  hear,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.” 

He  who  cried  in  the  first  clause  of  this  verse  is  the  Lord 
Himself,  as  is  evident  from  the  verses  that  immediately 
precede  this  text.  The  thing  which  the  prophet  complains 
of  is,  that  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  spake  to  them  on  a former 
occasion,  saying,  Execute  true  judgment,  and  show  mercy 
and  compassion  every  man  to  his  brother — when  He  said 
this  to  the  people  of  the  land  they  refused  to  hearken,  and 
stopped  their  ears  that  they  should  not  hear;  and  “they 
made  their  hearts  as  an  adamant-stone,  lest  they  should 
hear  the  law,  and  the  words  which  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath 
sent  in  His  Spirit  by  the  former  prophets and  therefore 
it  was  that  there  came  a great  wrath  upon  them  from  the 
Lord  of  hosts.  And  no  doubt  when  visited  with  affliction, 
when  brought  very  low  because  of  their  sins,  when  death 
and  destruction  stared  them  in  the  face,  and  the  urgent 
desire  of  their  hearts  was  for  deliverance,  they  gave  vent 
to  their  desire  by  prayer.  But  mark  the  upshot  of  their 
having  refused  to  hear  God  on  a former  occasion — He 
refused  to  hear  them  on  the  present  occasion.  And  this  is 
the  meaning  of  the  text — “ Therefore  it  is  come  to  pass,  that 
as  He  cried,  and  they  would  not  hear ; so  they  cried,  and  I 
would  not  hear,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.” 

Now  most  of  you  who  are  here  present  are  young  in  life. 


428 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


and  perhaps  scarcely  have  known  what  it  is  to  be  afflicted. 
At  all  events,  there  is  nothing  more  likely  than  that  many 
of  you  may  have  thought  little  of  the  time  when  the  last 
sickness  shall  come  upon  you,  and  you  shall  have  at  last 
taken  yourselves  to  the  bed  from  which  you  are  never  more 
to  rise.  Full  of  life  and  vigor,  and  rejoicing,  perhaps,  in 
the  prospect  of  many  days,  your  imagination  may  never 
have  seriously  dwelt  on  that  awful  event  which  is  certainly 
coming  upon  you,  even  as  it  has  come  upon  all  who  have 
gone  before  you.  Your  hearts  may  have  been  altogether 
with  lessons,  and  play,  and  companionship,  and  such  work 
as  parents  or  masters  have  put  into  your  hand — and  little 
may  you  have  reflected  that,  after  all,  the  end  of  the  whole 
matter  on  earth  is,  that  you  shall  die — and  that  every  min- 
ute which  you  breathe  brings  you  that  minute  nearer  to  the 
time  at  which  you  shall  die — and  that  this  terrible  day  is 
coming  upon  you  with  a speed  and  a certainty  from  which 
there  is  no  escaping.  These  are  simple  truths,  my  young 
friends  ; but  it  is  just  from  the  want  of  being  impressed  by 
plain  and  simple  truths  that  there  is  so  much  of  sin  and  suf- 
fering in  the  world.  It  is  just  because  men  will  not  take 
heed  to  the  near  and  the  obvious  matters  that  lie  before 
them,  that  they  have  gone  so  far  astray  in  wickedness,  and 
that  so  many  are  on  the  road  to  ruin  everlasting..  The 
great  and  practical  error  of  man  does  not  lie  in  his  being 
ignorant  of  what  is  difficult  to  understand,  but  in  his  being 
heedless  of  that  which  is  familiar  to  all  understandings.  It 
is  not  so  much  because  my  people  will  not  learn,  but  be- 
cause my  people  will  not  consider,  that  they  are  found  on 
the  path  which  leadeth  to  the  chambers  of  hell.  And  so  it  is 
with  many  of  you.  You  do  not  need  to  learn  that  you  have 
to  die ; for  this  is  what  you  all  know  as  well  as  I can  tell 
you.  But  you  stand  lamentably  in  need  of  more  thought- 
fulness, so  as  that  you  may  consider,  and  hold  it  often  in 
serious  and_solemn  remembrance,  that  you  are  to  die.  This 
is  what  I want  to  impress  upon  you  now.  The  dying  bed 
will  come — a weary  season  of  pain  and  breathlessness  and 
insufferable  languor  is  before  you.  The  path  that  leads 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


429 


from  the  present  world  to  the  next  world  has  to  be  trav- 
ersed by  all  who  are  here  present.  How  soon  I know  not; 
but  that  it  will  come  sooner  or  later,  you  are  all  as  well 
assured  as  I can  possibly  be.  It  is  not  a new  truth  that  I 
offer  to  your  notice,  but  an  old  that  I would  earnestly  set 
forth  to  your  thoughtful  and  tender  and  feeling  recollection. 

For  think,  my  young  friends,  what  in  all  likelihood  will 
take  place  on  that  affecting  occasion.  You  will  then  be 
standing  on  the  brink  of  eternity,  and  it  will  look  a dark 
and  awful  transition  to  cross  over  from  the  land  of  sense  to 
the  vast  and  unknown  land  that  is  before  you,  and  a cer- 
tain dread  will  lay  hold  of  you,  as  you  contemplate  the  fath- 
omless abyss  into  which  you  are  sinking ; and  then  under 
the  urgency  of  the  fearfulness  that  may  have  overtaken  you, 
will  you  gladly  cry  to  the  Lord  that  He  may  guide  you  in 
safety  through  the  mysterious  passage,  and  land  you  on  a 
peaceful  and  happy  shore.  And  if  the  thought  of  guilt  shall 
then  visit  your  bosoms,  this  may  bring  the  foretaste  of  hell 
along  with  it — and  so,  amid  the  tossings  of  a sinner’s  rest- 
less bed,  may  you  betake  yourselves  to  prayer,  and  cry  to 
the  Lord  for  deliverance. 

Now  the  thing  which  so  deeply  concerns  you  to  know 
is,  that  when  you  cry  then  He  may  not  hear  you,  and  that 
because  He  is  crying  now,  and  you  do  not  hear  Him ; you 
may  lift  the  voice  of  prayer  upon  your  death-beds,  and  He 
may  turn  a deaf  ear  thereto,  because  now  in  the  heyday 
and  cheerfulness  of  youth,  when  He  lifts  the  voice  of  au- 
thority and  bids  you  stand  in  awe  and  sin  not,  some  of  you, 
it  is  feared,  are  turning  a deaf  ear  to  all  His  warnings,  and 
will  none  of  His  reproof.  If  you  are  heedless  and  uncon- 
cerned now  about  what  He  says  to  you,  this  is  the  return 
that  will  come  upon  you — He  will  then  laugh  at  your  ca- 
lamity, and  mock  when  your  fear  cometh.  Oh,  how  much 
it  concerns  you  to  lay  up  through  life  what  you  will  find 
in  stead  and  in  store  when  you  come  upon  your  death- 
beds ! This  is  the  simple  expedient  by  which  you  may 
lay  up  a provision  for  the  day  of  your  extremity : Listen 
to  God  now,  and  He  will  not  refuse  to  listen  to  you  then. 


43G 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


Turn  to  Him  a willing  ear  in  the  morning  of  your  days, 
and  in  the  evening  of  your  days  you  will  experience  Him 
to  be  a God  of  good-will  and  of  graciousness.  Remember 
your  Creator  in  youth,  and  He  will  not  forget  you  in  old 
age.  Be  found  of  Him  now  when  He  is  seeking  after  you 
— so  that  when  you  come  to  the  bed  of  your  last  agonies, 
you  will  not  have  a Saviour  to  seek,  but  a Saviour  to  enjoy. 

But  to  be  more  particular,  we  should  specify  what  is  the 
cry  or  proclamation  that  God  is  lifting  up  now,  and  by  your 
neglect  of  which  you  may  bring  down  upon  you  God’s 
neglect  of  you  then,  when  the  hour  and  the  power  of  dark- 
ness shall  at  length  overtake  you.  In  the  text  it  was  God’s 
law  that  He  was  proclaiming ; it  was  His  word  which  by 
His  Spirit  He  had  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  old  prophets ; 
this  was  what  He  spoke  in  the  hearing  of  the  people,  and 
they  made  their  hearts,  it  is  said,  as  an  adamant-stone 
against  Him.  They  put  a hardy  and  resolute  defiance 
against  the  calls  of  authority  and  the  threats  of  vengeance. 
When  He  entreated  their  obedience,  they  disregarded.  In 
the  day  of  their  fancied  security  they  refused  all  His  ex- 
postulations— so  that  when  the  day  of  their  disaster  came, 
and  they  turned  to  the  Lord,  as  they  did  not  hear  when 
He  cried  to  them,  so  He  would  not  hear  when  they  cried 
to  Him. 

And  thus,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  it  with  many,  and  very 
many,  of  our  present  reckless  generation.  He  is  calling  to 
you  directly  by  His  Spirit,  when  the  law,  written  in  your 
consciences,  admonishes  you  of  the  right  and  of  the  wrong; 
and  you  are  hardening  your  consciences  against  Him  when, 
all  heedless  of  the  admonition,  you  put  it  utterly  away  from 
you.  He  is  crying  to  you  by  the  prophets  and  the  righteous 
men  of  old  in  that  book  which  His  Spirit  hath  dictated,  and 
the  words  of  which  you  have  already  learned  to  read — and 
it  is  your  bounden  duty  to  mind  and  to  revere  them ; and 
you  are  just  hardening  yourselves  in  stout-heartedness 
against  Him,  when  that  word,  which  has  been  compared 
to  a hammer  breaking  the  rock  in  pieces,  is  yet  unable  to 
break  that  impregnable  resistance  wherewith  so  many  ob- 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


431 


stinate  sinners  can  stand  out  against  all  the  denunciations 
that  are  written  therein.  It  is,  indeed,  most  woeful  to  think 
of  the  stern  and  uncomplying  metal  of  resistance  which  the 
soul  and  the  conscience  of  man  are  capable  of  taking  on. 
Every  month  finds  him  a harder  and  a more  resolute  sinner 
than  before.  Every  act  of  transgression  takes  so  much 
away  from  the  delicacy  and  the  tenderness  of  his  conscience. 
The  wickedness  he  at  one  time  trembled  to  think  of,  he  anon 
can  commit  and  glory  in.  His  moral  sensibilities  at  length 
sink  into  utter  decay.  The  preaching  of  the  word  cannot 
move  him — the  death  of  acquaintances  on  every  side  of  him 
cannot  shake  him  out  of  his  determined  rebellion — the  tolling 
of  the  funeral  bell  sends  no  compunction  into  his  steeled  and 
inflexible  bosom — the  warnings  of  Providence  do  not  affect 
him — and  nothing  will  prevail  upon  him  to  feel  or  to  con- 
sider till  his  own  selfishness  be  touched  by  the  agonies  of 
his  mortal  disease,  and  the  terrors  of  his  own  impending 
dissolution; — and  then,  to  crown  the  sad  history  of  infatuated 
man,  does  it  turn  out,  that  as  God  cried  unto  him  in  the 
days  of  his  youth,  and  he  would  not  hear,  so  when  he  cries 
on  his  dying  bed,  I will  not  hear,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

Let  me  bring  this  whole  lesson  more  specifically  to  bear 
upon  you,  by  urging  upon  you  three  leading  particulars  of 
the  divine  testimony,  of  which  God  is  now  making  frequent 
and  open  proclamation  in  your  hearing,  but  which  if  you 
do  not  hear,  He  will  shut  His  ear  and  His  tenderness  against 
you  when  the  day  of  your  necessity  arrives : and  the  first 
particular  which  we  may  gather  from  every  page  of  His 
book,  and  also  from  the  intimate  consciousness — each  in  his 
own  bosom,  is  that  we  have  sinned  against  Him,  and  are 
now  under  rightful  sentence  of  condemnation.  There  is 
none  righteous,  no,  not  one — all  have  fallen  short  of  God’s 
commandment  and  God’s  glory.  There  is  none  who  under- 
standeth,  and  none  who  seeketh  after  Him.  And  cursed  is 
every  one  who  continueth  not  in  all  the  words  of  the  book 
of  His  law  to  do  them.  These  are  the  declarations  of  all 
being  criminal  and  all  being  accursed  before  God ; — and 
they  are  uttered,  not  for  the  sole  purpose  of  terrifying  you. 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


432 

but  for  the  purpose  of  prevailing  on  you  to  flee  to  the  place 
of  escape  and  deliverance.  It  is  not  to  torment  you  before 
the  time  that  God  tries  to  light  up  the  agonies  of  fear  and 
of  remorse  in  your  bosom,  but  it  is  that  you  may  be  con- 
cerned how  to  find  refuge  from  that  threatened  torment. 
He  wants  you  to  tremble  at  the  thought  of  hell,  not  to  make 
you  miserable  even  before  the  door  of  that  awful  place  is 
shut  upon  you  ; but  Ha  desires  to  set  you  trembling,  in 
order  that  you  may  be  led  to  flee  from  this  coming  wrath, 
and  to  betake  yourselves  to  the  appointed  way  of  deliver- 
ance therefrom.  But  how  many,  alas  ! there  be  in  our 
world  who  persist  in  profoundest  lethargy  under  the  terror 
and  the  threatening  of  all  these  denunciations.  How  many 
persist  in  their  wickedness,  and  steel  their  unregenerated 
bosoms  against  the  wrath  and  the  vengeance  that  are  de- 
nounced thereupon  ! How  many,  I fear,  even  among  you, 
my  young  friends,  who  live  as  lightly  and  as  unconcernedly 
as  if  there  were  no  judgment  and  no  hell: — you  will  not 
hear  when  we  tell  you  of  sin  and  of  vengeance.  Conscience 
may  offer  now  and  then  the  intimation  that  you  are  not  in 
friendship  with  God,  and  not  in  a fit  state  for  dying  and 
entering  into  His  presence  ; but  the  lesson  is  thrown  aside, 
and  the  guilt  and  the  danger  are  forgotten,  and  among 
light-hearted  companions  you  lose  all  sight  of  the  coming 
eternity,  and  thus  you  do  what  the  children  of  Israel  before 
did  ; when  God  cried  unto  them  they  did  not  hear,  and  you 
will  not  hear  when  by  His  Bibles  and  His  ministers,  and  the 
whispers  of  His  Holy  Spirit  in  your  heart,  He  tries  to  fix 
and  solemnize  you  by  the  thought,  that  in  yourselves  you 
are  undone  sinners,  the  blood  of  whose  own  souls  will  be 
required  at  your  hands.  And  thus  you  may  fare  even  as 
they  did — you  will  at  length  be  reduced  to  the  helplessness 
of  their  sad  misery,  and  then  when  death  comes  upon  you, 
may  you  cry  when  it  is  too  late.  And  so,  as  you  will  not 
hear  God  now  when  He  crieth  unto  you,  He  may  not  hear 
you  then,  when  you  cry  unto  Him. 

But  there  is  another  particular  of  the  divine  testimony 
that  I must  sound  forth  in  your  hearing — I have  already 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


433 


said  that  there  is  a future  day  of  wrath — but  I now  say  that 
there  is  a present  day  of  acceptance.  I have  already  said 
that  you  are  sinners — but  I now  say  that  there  is  a Saviour 
for  sinners.  I have  already  said  that  you  are  under  the  curse 
of  a violated  law — but  I now  tell  you  of  one  who  hath  taken 
that  curse  upon  Himself,  who  hath  redeemed  us  from  it  by 
becoming  a curse  for  us,  who  hung  upon  the  tree  for  your 
offenses,  and  there  bore  the  whole  weight  of  His  Fathers 
displeasure — drinking  to  the  very  dregs  the  cup  of  our  ex- 
piation, and  pouring  forth  His  soul  unto  the  death,  that  we 
may  live  through  Him.  This  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
of  which  proclamation  is  made  every  day  from  our  Bibles, 
every  week  from  our  pulpits,  every  year  from  our  solemn 
sacraments.  God  hath  lifted  up  the  cry  of  invitation  unto 
all ; and  He  now  expostulates  with  us  that  we  should  return 
unto  Him,  and  He  bids  us  believe  in  Christ  that  we  may  be 
saved,  and  often  does  He  tell  us  if  we  will  only  come  unto 
Himself  through  the  open  door  of  Christ’s  mediatorship,  He 
will  forgive  all  and  forget  all.  These  are  the  cries  of  a 
Father  after  His  wandering  and  disobedient  children,  for 
He  does  not  want  to  lose  them,  but  rather  that  they  should 
turn  unto  Him  and  live.  And  yet,  alas  ! how  much  are 
these  cries  of  a Father’s  tenderness  unheeded  by  a perverse 
and  unthinking  generation  — what  an  insulting  return  does 
the  Father  of  mercies  meet  from  us,  when  all  day  long  He 
stretches  forth  His  hand  to  a rebellious  and  gainsaying 
people ! Oh ! it  was  a foul  provocation  to  have  broken 
His  law ; but  how  far  more  bitter  the  provocation  is,  when 
we  thus  turn  a deaf  ear  to  His  gospel,  and  turn  our  back  on 
His  offers  of  reconciliation  ? — and  this  is  done  by  all  who 
lightly  esteem  Christ,  by  all  who  count  the  preaching  of  His 
cross  to  be  foolishness,  by  all  who,  careless  about  sin,  are 
equally  careless  about  the  sacrifice  that  has  been  made  for 
it.  Do  you  hear  of  Christ,  and  hear  of  Him  without  emo- 
tion, and  without  any  desire  after  Him  ? Do  the  tidings 
of  salvation  fall  heavily  and  unconcernedly  upon  your  ears'? 
Is  it  all  like  the  sound  of  an  unknown  voice,  without  any 
power  to  touch  or  to  awaken  you?  Then,  indeed,  you 
VOL.  vi. — T 


434 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


affront  God  in  the  tenderest  part,  you  dishonor  His  Son, 
you  make  Himself  a liar  by  refusing  His  testimony  respect- 
ing Him,  you  reject  the  offer  of  salvation  that  hath  been 
brought  to  your  door,  you  say — We  shall  persist  in  our  sins, 
and  we  care  not  for  the  Saviour.  The  cry  of  gospel  en- 
treaty is  lifted  up  in  your  hearing  now,  and  you  will  not 
listen  to  it ; and  the  cry  for  gospel  mercy  may  arise  from 
you  then,  when  on  the  eve  of  bidding  adieu  to  the  world, 
you  cast  about  for  the  peace  and  the  interest  of  your  eter- 
nity— because  you  can  do  no  better,  because  you  cannot 
help  it.  Oh  ! cast  not  away  your  own  souls  ; listen  to  the 
Saviour  who  now  standeth  without,  and  knocketh  at  the 
door  of  your  hearts  ; kiss  Him  while  He  is  in  the  way.  He 
is  willing  now  to  enter  into  friendship  with  you,  and  to 
manage  your  cause,  and  to  take  upon  Himself  the  whole 
burden  of  your  interest  and  reconciliation  with  God ; but 
He  will  not  always  strive — His  wrath  will  at  length  begin 
to  burn ; and  if  you  refuse  Him  now,  the  day  may  soon 
overtake  you  when  you  will  cry  unto  Him  and  He  will  not 
hear  you. 

But,  lastly,  God  calleth  unto  all  to  forsake  the  evil  of 
their  ways  and  the  evil  of  their  thoughts.  He  bids  all  to 
repent  as  well  as  to  believe  the  gospel.  He  hath  uttered 
this  solemn  denunciation — that  unfess  we  repent  we  perish. 
He  makes  us  to  understand,  that  in  turning  to  Christ  we 
turn  from  our  iniquities.  He  sounds  this  will  and  order  of 
His  imperatively  in  your  hearing  : — Break  off  your  sins  by 
righteousness. — Come  out  from  among  evil  ways  and  evil 
acquaintances. — Burst  asunder  the  entanglements  and  the 
enticements  of  vicious  pleasure  by  which  you  are  surround- 
ed.— Be  ye  separate  from  sinners,  and  follow  not  a multi- 
tude to  do  evil.  And  to  encourage  you  with  the  offers  of 
strength  and  aid  from  above,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to 
prosecute  the  work  of  repentance  and  to  perfect  it,  He  says, 
Turn  unto  me,  and  behold  I will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon 
you.  This  is  the  cry  that  He  now  lifts  in  your  hearing — 
and  will  you  dare  after  this  to  continue  in  the  bonds  of 
companionship  with  the  ungodly?  Will  you  choose  the 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


435 


despisers  of  God  and  of  goodness  for  your  intimates,  and 
that  merely  because  they  live  with  you  in  the  same  street, 
or  work  with  you  under  the  same  master.  Will  you  thus 
expose  your  eternity  at  random  to  the  evil  influences  of 
such  acquaintances  as  you  may  happen  to  meet  with  in  the 
world  ? You  are  young,  and  you  may  perhaps  be  laying 
your  account  with  many  days  on  this  side  of  death,  and 
may  think  that  it  is  time  enough  to  be  good — that  it  is  time 
enough  to  think  of  heaven,  and  of  preparation  for  that 
awful  and  terrifying  death  which  still  lies  at  so  remote  a 
distance  away  from  you.  But  I call  upon  you  to  feel  the 
urgency  of  the  text.  Young  as  you  are,  God  is  lifting  up 
a cry  of  expostulation  and  entreaty  even  unto  you : Suffer 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  says  the  Saviour — and  is 
not  this  a cry  of  invitation  to  the  least  and  youngest  of  you 
all  ? Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord,  says  one  of 
His  apostles — and  is  not  this  a cry  of  authority  lifted  up  in 
your  hearing?  Your  being  young  does  not  prevent  God 
from  crying  unto  you ; but  if  you  will  not  listen — this, 
when  you  come  to  be  old,  may  prevent  Him  from  hearing 
when  you  cry  unto  Him.  Oh ! persist  not  then,  in  this  un- 
concern any  longer.  Open  your  hearts  to  the  voice  of  Him 
that  speaketh  from  heaven,  and  who,  while  grieved  because 
of  your  sins,  is  yet  waiting  to  be  gracious.  Harden  your 
hearts  no  longer  against  Him,  or  they  may  at  length  be- 
come harder  than  the  adamant.  Think  with  yourselves, 
that  if  this  evening  I stand  my  ground  against  the  cry 
which  I have  heard,  then  will  I stand  more  firmly  against 
another,  and  another,  and  another  cry ; and  thus  will  your 
case  be  every  day  becoming  worse,  and  your  chance  for 
heaven  will  every  day  become  more  desperate,  and  your 
contempt  and  carelessness  about  divine  things  will  grow 
upon  you  from  one  day  to  another;  and  your  whole  life 
may  be  one  continued  resistance  to  the  proclaimed  grace 
of  that  God  who  is  now  plying  you  with  messages  of  love, 
and  entreating  your  return  to  the  paths  of  peace  and  of 
pleasantness.  Oh ! hold  out  no  longer,  lest  in  return  for 
His  cry  being  unheard  by  you  all  your  lives  long,  you  will 


436 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG. 


at  length  send  forth  a fearful  and  a piercing  and  an  exceed- 
ing bitter  cry  when  death  stares  you  in  the  face,  and  the 
terrors  of  the  coming  hell  draw  near  to  your  affrighted 
soul,  and  the  cry  be  disregarded,  and  the  gate  of  mercy  be 
shut,  and  the  Spirit  have  left  you  to  the  fruit  of  your  own 
ways,  and  an  everlasting  seal  be  set  on  that  fountain  which 
is  now  flowing  out  so  freely,  and  to  which  you  are  now 
invited,  that  you  may  wash  out  your  sins  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb.  Return  unto  God,  and  He  will  return  unto  you. 
— Seek  Him  while  He  is  near. — Call  upon  Him  while  He 
is  to  be  found. — He  will  receive  you  graciously. — He  will 
love  you  freely  if  you  will  only  go  to  Him  now,  and  put 
yourself  under  the  protection  of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and 
under  the  bidding  of  Him  as  the  Master  whom  you  have 
chosen,  and  whom  alone  you  are  determined  to  serve. 


SERMON  XIII. 


[Preached  at  St.  John’s,  Glasgow,  on  the  second  Sabbath  of  Nov.  1823.] 
PSALM  CXXXVII.  5,  6. 

“ If  I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning.  If  I do  not  remembel 
thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth ; if  I prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my 
chief  joy.” 

The  exquisite  pathos  and  beauty  of  this  sacred  composi- 
tion gives  it  a high  place  even  in  the  records  of  poetry.  It 
is,  indeed,  one  of  its  most  precious  effusions ; and  apart 
altogether  from  that  which  constitutes  its  highest  recom- 
mendation to  a spiritual  man,  there  are  about  it  touches  of 
imagery  and  feeling  that  call  forth  a responding  homage 
from  the  native  sensibilities  of  every  heart.  The  captive 
despondency — the  dear  yet  drooping  recollection  of  that 
more  distant  home — the  fond  and  lofty  aspirings  of  a pa- 
triotism which  the  ruthless  hand  of  tyranny  must  only  have 
riveted  the  more,  and  never  could  extinguish — these  deeper 
agitations  of  the  soul  are  so  mellowed  into  softness,  and  the 
pensive  and  the  picturesque  are  so  mingled  together  in  these 
accompaniments  of  the  harp  and  the  river,  and  the  hanging 
willow  upon  its  side,  as  to  make  this,  even  when  regarded 
in  the  light  of  a Hebrew  melody,  the  finest  and  most  fasci- 
nating of  them  all. 

Yet  they  are  not  the  breathings  either  of  a natural  or  a 
poetic  tenderness,  but  those  of  grace  and  of  the  Spirit, 
wherewith  at  present  we  have  immediately  to  do.  This 
psalm,  in  fact,  is  mainly  and  essentially  the  utterance  of 
religion.  It  is  the  complaint  of  men  now  bereaved  of  its 
solemnities  and  its  services,  and  hurried  into  a Pagan  land, 
where  the  worship  of  Israel  was  derided,  and  the  God  of 
Israel  was  unknown.  They  had  both  the  griefs  and  the 


438 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


fears  of  nature  ; but  the  chief  burden  of  their  grief  is,  that 
torn  from  the  companionships  of  piety,  and  left  to  the  cruel 
mockery  of  profane  and  unfeeling  barbarians,  their  spirits 
had  lost  that  wonted  aliment  by  which  all  grace  and  all 
godliness  are  upholden  ; and  the  chief  burden  of  their  fear  * 
was,  lest,  in  the  withering  atmosphere  of  that  ungainly  and 
ungenial  neighborhood  where  they  now  breathed,  this  grace 
and  this  godliness  should  go  into  utter  dissipation.  There 
was  little  danger  that  they  should  ever  lose  the  regards  and 
the  recollections  of  patriotism.  There  was  little  danger 
that  even  to  the  hour  of  death  the  scenes  of  late  ancestral 
glory,  and  of  their  own  happy  boyhood,  should  not  always 
recur  as  far  the  dearest  to  their  imagination.  There  was 
a powerful  guarantee  in  the  universal  laws  and  sensations 
of  humanity,  that  when  they  looked  back  on  the  peace  and 
gladness  of  younger  days,  every  bosom  should  fetch  its 
heavy  sigh,  and  every  eye  should  weep  at  the  remembrance 
of  them.  There  was  no  fear  lest  any  of  them  should  become 
apostates  from  the  truth  and  the  tenderness  of  nature ; but 
there  was  another,  a more  fatal  apostasy,  on  the  brink  of 
which  these  holy  men  of  God  felt  that  they  were  standing; 
and  this  psalm,  we  repeat,  is  the  outpouring  of  souls  firm  in 
their  purposes  of  religious  integrity,  yet  fearful  of  falling 
away  from  it — eyeing  with  dismay  the  hazards  of  their 
exile  from  a priestly  and  a consecrated  land,  and  summoning 
to  their  aid  the  high  resolve,  the  solemn  and  appalling  con- 
juration— “ If  I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem,  if  I forget  the  city 
of  my  God,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning ; and  if  I 
do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of 
my  mouth,  if  I prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.” 
And  we  mistake  it,  my  brethren,  if  we  think  that  to  be 
translated  into  a condition  for  feelings  and  purposes  that 
are  kindred  to  these,  we  must  be  visited  with  a kindred 
calamity— that  upon  us  also  an  invasion  and  an  overthrow 
and  a captivity  must  come — that  we  must  be  wrested  from 
our  Christian  homes,  and  carried  far  into  savage  or  idolatrous 
retreats,  where  Sabbaths  and  sacraments  and  churches  are 
unknown.  That  book,  which  was  written  for  our  admoni- 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


439 


tion,  on  whom  the  latter  ends  of  the  world  have  come 
however  remote  its  historical  narratives  may  be  from  any 
experience  of  ours,  is  replete  all  over  with  passages  of  direct 
and  most  familiar  application  to  our  daily  affairs  ; and  more 
particularly  of  this  passage  may  it  be  affirmed,  that  there 
elapseth  not  one  day  of  our  lives  in  which  the  disciple  of 
Jesus  is  not  exposed  to  a transition  as  wide  and  as  violent 
as  from  the  land  of  Israel  to  the  land  of  Babylon — in  which, 
without  one  mile  of  locomotion,  he  does  not  traverse  a moral 
and  a spiritual  distance  as  great  as  that  which  separated 
the  mourners  of  our  text  from  their  beloved  Jerusalem — in 
which  he  does  not  step,  as  it  were,  from  one  region  to  an- 
other, in  the  first  of  which  he  stood  as  at  the  gate  of  heaven, 
and  in  the  second  is  exposed  to  all  the  withering  secularises 
of  the  world.  The  Christian  who  is  much  exercised  in  the 
discernment  of  his  own  spirit,  knows  that  there  is  in  it  a 
constant  gravitation  away  from  God ; and  that,  were  it  not 
for  an  upward  and  aspiring  tendency,  which  grace  hath 
imparted  and  grace  alone  can  uphold,  it  would  instantly 
lapse  into  earthliness.  If  he  have  intelligently  marked  the 
fluctuation  that  taketh  place  in  his  heart  on  the  ever-shifting 
occasions  of  his  history  — if  he  have  contrasted  aright  the 
sacredness  of  his  family  prayer,  and  in  the  ordinary  man- 
agements of  his  family  the  utter  oblivion  of  all  sacredness 
— if  he  have  kept  a record  of  the  elevation  to  which  at 
times  he  hath  been  borne  upwardly  in  church,  and  then 
how  he  flattened  to  a level  with  the  dust  when  surrounded 
again  with  the  urgencies  of  business — if  he  ever  breathed 
of  a heavenly  communion  on  the  mount  of  ordinances,  and 
felt  how  soon  the  companionships  of  everyday  life  scattered 
it  away — he  will  admit  that  in  reference  to  the  Jerusalem 
above  he  is  one  of  an  exiled  species — a stranger  and  so- 
journer in  a distant  land.  Conscious  how  habitually  it  is 
that  the  things  of  sacredness  slip  away  from  his  remem- 
brance, his  aspirations  toward  them  will  be  frequent,  and 
the  heed  that  he  gives  to  them  will  be  earnest.  There  will 
be  at  all  times  a fearfulness  upon  his  spirit  because  of  its 
infirmity,  and  yet,  like  that  of  the  captive  Israelites,  a solemn 


440 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


and  a strenuous  purpose  against  it.  It  is  indeed  a kindred 
struggle,  and  there  will  be  a kindred  sympathy.  He  feels 
the  text  to  be  his  own,  and  he  uses  it  as  a combative  wea- 
pon against  the  bias  of  his  earthly  nature. — “If  I forget 
thee,  O Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning. 
If  I do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof 
of  my  mouth,  if  I prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.” 
We  have  not  time  for  all  the  generalities  of  doctrine  and 
of  remark  which,  under  this  text,  we  might  most  pertinently 
expatiate  upon,  and  therefore  hasten  to  the  task  of  stimu- 
lating your  own  consciences  to  a faithful  application  of  it. 
You  may  remember,  my  friends,  the  occasions  of  your  his- 
tory when  a glow  came  upon  your  spirits  that  felt  like  a 
glow  of  sacredness,  and  you  must  remember  how  speedily 
it  all  evanished  on  your  very  first  exposure  to  the  atmosphere 
of  this  world’s  society.  You  may  remember,  when  hold- 
ing converse  with  some  Christian  author — with  a venerable 
worthy,  perhaps,  of  some  former  generation — with  one  of 
those  mighty  dead  who  still  speaketh  in  some  precious 
memorial  that  he  hath  left  behind  him  of  his  own  holy  and 
heavenly  contemplations  — you  may  retnember  how  he 
exercised  the  charm  that  could  abstract  you  for  one  little 
hour  from  the  frivolities  of  life,  and  pour  into  your  mind 
the  glory  of  those  great  elements  among  which  he  himself 
expatiated.  But  when  leaving  the  closet,  you  must  remem- 
ber the  descent  as  well  as  the  elevation,  and  with  what 
facility  it  was  that  you  could  step  down  to  creep  and  grovel 
as  before  on  the  platform  of  ordinary  men.  You  may  re- 
member a similar  transition  even  in  the  converse  that  you 
have  held  with  a living  instructor  — how  pleasant  to  your 
ear  was  the  chime  of  the  morning  bells  that  summoned  you 
to  his  pulpit  ministrations — how  you  caught  a frame  of 
sacredness  from  your  very  presence  in  the  house  of  God — 
and  how  the  lessons  of  piety  came  with  a peculiar  force 
upon  your  spirit,  when,  instead  of  being  taken  in  by  the 
eye  from  the  pages  of  a written  composition,  they  took 
their  direct  conveyance  into  the  bosom  from  the  sympathies 
of  a heart  in  unison  with  your  own.  And  we,  moreover. 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


441 


fear  of  many  that  they  must  remember  how  a Sabbath  of 
lofty  feelings,  and  when  they  seemed  to  breathe  in  the  pure 
and  elevated  serene  of  an  upper  region,  how  such  a Sabbath 
has  been  followed  up  by  a week  of  utter  desecration — how, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  it,  all  their  senses  were 
steeped  in  worldliness — and  that,  throughout  their  six  days, 
nothing  was  left  to  signalize  their  history  from  that  of  others 
who  make  of  the  seventh  a free  and  festive  holiday.  And 
that,  if  possible,  I may  have  a still  nearer  appeal  to  your 
consciences,  some  of  you  may  have  the  fresh  remembrance 
of  that  which  felt  like  the  unction  of  heaven  upon  your 
souls  in  the  sacrament  that  has  just  gone  by,  and  yet,  in 
the  short  and  rapid  interval  between,  have  met  enough  to 
convince  you,  that  so  soon  as  loosened  from  the  altitude  to 
which  it  had  gotten,  the  soul  sinks  and  gravitates  again  to 
the  dust  of  its  own  kindred  earthliness.  These  are  but  a 
few  instances  out  of  the  many.  They  are  only  the  signs 
and  the  specimens  of  a general  law  that  operates  at  all 
times  and  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  our  degraded 
nature.  They  are  the  sad  evidences  of  our  banishment 
from  heaven,  of  our  disruption  from  God’s  unfallen  family. 
They  prove  that  there  is  an  element  within — an  element 
of  repugnance  and  of  recoil  from  godliness — an  accursed 
enmity  in  our  spirits  to  the  things  of  faith — a headlong  ten- 
dency that  weighs  us  down  to  that  world  of  sense  and  of 
sight,  among  whose  carnal  delights  and  comfortable  dwell- 
ings we  could  live  for  ever,  and  gladly  consent  to  an  eternal 
separation  from  all  the  glories  of  the  upper  Paradise.  It  is 
this,  my  brethren,  which  constitutes  one  and  all  of  us  exiles 
from  the  city  of  the  living  God.  It  is  a sense  of  this  that 
ministers  to  every  aspirant  the  humbling  conviction  of  his 
woeful  distance  and  deficiency  therefrom.  It  is  because 
of  this  that  he  mourns  and  is  in  heaviness ; while  in  refer- 
ence to  the  great  majority,  we  fear,  that  though  all  the 
alternations  which  we  have  now  set  forth  be  fully  experi- 
enced, no  practical  regret  is  experienced  along  with  it. 
Any  religion  they  have  is  caught  in  glimpses  or  in  passing 
emotions ; it  comes  round  at  the  stated  period,  and  makes 


442 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


way  for  other  things  which  pass  in  busy  succession  through 
the  circuits  of  their  history ; it  has  its  insignificant  corner 
in  the  whole  system  of  their  affairs.  Meanwhile,  life  bus- 
tles onwards  to  its  close ; and  after  a procession  of  many 
feelings  and  many  fugitive  regards,  among  which  religion 
had  its  place  with  other  things,  are  there  many  who  pass 
with  spirits  wholly  unrenewed  into  the  presence  of  God, 
with  persons  wholly  unsanctified  to  the  awards  of  the  judg- 
ment-seat. 

You  are  not  to  imagine  that  religion  is  like  to  one  term 
of  the  series,  to  one  article  in  the  great  inventory  of  human 
life ; nor,  on  the  principle  that  there  is  a time  and  a season 
for  every  thing,  are  you  to  exclude  religion  from  its  rightful 
ascendency  over  all  the  departments  of  human  experience. 
You  are  not  to  view  it  as  a chapter  in  your  history,  but 
rather  as  that  which  gives  a quality  and  a style  to  the 
whole  composition.  You  are  not  to  confine  it  within  the 
dimensions  of  a part,  but  to  diffuse  it  as  you  would  a col- 
oring substance  that  leavens  and  impregnates  the  whole. 
It  is  very  true  that  household  engagements  must  be  gone 
through.  It  is  very  true  that  business  in  all  its  manifold 
details  must  be  attended  to.  It  is  very  true  that  the  cares 
of  health  and  of  daily  bread  and  of  a provision  for  your 
families  are  ever  soliciting  the  regards  of  your  spirit,  and 
ever  multiplying  your  avocations  and  anxieties.  I freely 
concede  that  thus  the  life  of  man  must  be  broken  down  into 
countless  and  ever-changing  varities  ; but  I contend,  that  in 
religion  there  is  an  amalgamating  power  by  which  it  closes 
and  coalesces  therewith,  and  stamps  a reigning  character 
upon  them  all — that  an  individual  might  peruse  and  ponder 
and  give  himself  to  busy  penmanship  fo.r  hours  in  his  count- 
ing-house— that  he  might  bustle  his  way  through  the  activi- 
ties and  negotiations  of  a market — that  he  might  relax  his 
wearied  faculties  in  the  bosom  of  the  domestic  circle,  and 
there  listen  with  delighted  ear  to  the  prattle  of  infancy — 
that  he  might  indulge  in  all  the  gayeties  of  a benevolent 
heart,  whether  at  home  or  in  society — in  a word,  that  he 
might  pass  from  one  scene  and  employment  to  another,  and 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


443 


yet  carry  through  them  all  the  decided  aspect  and  temper 
of  a Christian.  He  might  no  more  resign,  by  any  of  these 
transitions,  the  complexion  of  a spiritual  man  than  the  com- 
plexion of  his  face ; all  the  while  might  this  characteristic 
sit  as  visibly  upon  him  as  any  other  of  the  characteristics 
which  nature  or  habit  hath  bestowed.  Whatever  a man’s 
engagements,  or  however  they  may  shift  and  fluctuate  from 
one  to  another,  there  still  cleaves  to  him  his  sanguine,  or  his 
phlegmatic,  or  his  melancholy,  or,  in  short,  his  constitutional 
temperament,  whatever  it  may  be.  And  so  to  the  true 
disciple  there  should  cleave  upon  all  occasions  his  Christian 
temperament.  The  anointing  that  hath  given  it  to  him  is 
an  anointing  that  remaineth.  It  manifesteth  itself  not  in  some 
things  only,  but  in  all ; for  such  is  the  high  demand  of  the 
religion  that  you  profess,  to  do  all  things  to  the  glory  of  God, 
to  do  all  things  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

There  are  many  hearts  to  which  the  word  of  God  reaches 
no  farther  than  the  surface,  and  like  the  seed  which  fell  by 
the  way-side,  it  is  instantly  taken  away;  and  there  are 
many  more  where  it  enters  a little  way  within  the  surface, 
and  there  springeth  up  a rapid  vegetation  of  sensibilities, 
and  purposes,  and  vows,  which  having  no  root,  like  the  seed 
that  fell  upon  rocky  ground  all  sicken  and  decay  under  the 
withering  exposures  of  this  world.  It  is  against  the  deceit- 
fulness of  such  emotions  as  these  that  I would  like  to  guard 
you — it  is  the  evanescent  pathos  as  disjoined  from  the  opera- 
tion and  the  habitual  power  that  is  so  very  apt  to  minister 
to  your  bosoms  a most  treacherous  complacency — it  is  lest 
the  quick  and  transitory  feeling  should  pass  in  your  imagin- 
ations for  the  sturdiness  of  enduring  principle,  that  I am 
jealous  over  you,  and  I trust  with  a godly  jealousy.  I 
would  have  you  warned,  my  brethren,  that  Christianity 
may  be  so  rooted  as  to  yield  the  love  and  delicate  efflo- 
rescence which  the  first  rude  blast  will  destroy ; and  not 
be  so  rooted  as  to  become  the  object  of  a steadfast  remem- 
brance and  steadfast  regard,  and  so  as  that  the  blossoms 
of  promise  may  be  succeeded  by  the  fruits  of  righteousness. 
It  is  because  of  the  flower  without  the  fruit,  that  a morning 


444 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


of  fair  profession  so  often  settles  down  into  a manhood  or 
an  old  age  of  inveterate  worldliness — and  that  after  a spring 
green  with  verdure  and  opening  foliage,  so  many  might 
apply  the  true  and  the  tremendous  saying,  that  the  harvest 
is  past,  and  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are  not  saved. 
You  feel  now — and  I want  to  counteract  the  tide  of  your 
emotions  by  lifting  up  before  your  eyes  the  rough  fruit  of 
experience,  and  proclaiming  how  possible  it  is  that  you 
may  forget  afterwards.  The  delusions  of  our  modern  world 
are  of  as  hurtful  and  as  hazardous  encounter  as  were  the 
idolatries  of  the  land  of  Babylon.  Be  forewarned  and  fore- 
armed like  the  Israelites  of  my  text  — and  be  it  your  holy 
determination,  as  it  was  theirs,  that  the  things  of  heaven 
shall  never  be  forgotten.  “If  I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem, 
if  I forget  Mount  Zion,  and  the  city  of  the  living  God,  let 
my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning.  Let  my  tongue  cleave 
to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  I remember  not  Jerusalem  above 
my  chief  joy.” 

I feel  it  most  oppressively  unpleasant  to  allude,  however 
distantly  to  myself — and  on  the  moment  of  touching  upon 
the  borders  of  egotism,  there  spring  up  a thousand  delicacies 
which  are  most  difficult  to  manage,  and  which  one  is  utterly 
at  a loss  how  to  dispose  of.  They  have  really  cost  me  some 
thought ; but  I have  at  length  resolved  that  when  holding 
converse  with  fellow-sinners  on  the  high  matters  of  eter- 
nity, any  feeling  of  the  sort  ought  to  be  suspended — that  it 
is  my  duty  on  the  present  occasion  to  school  down  the  re- 
pugnance altogether;  and  when  anything ‘has 'to  be  spoken 
which  substantially  affects  so  deep  and  mighty  a concern 
as  the  wellbeing  of  your  souls,  no  scruple  and  no  ceremony 
should  be  permitted  to  stand  in  its  way.  It  is  quite  palpa- 
ble then  to  you  all,  so  indulgently  have  I been  dealt  with 
by  my  hearers,  that  from  first  to  last  I have  had  a goodly 
attendance ; and  it  is  a question  which  concerns  not  me 
more  than  it  does  yourselves — what  the  peculiar  magnetism 
is  which  can  possibly  account  for  it  ? I have  had  my  own 
painful  misgivings  upon  this  subject — and  more  especially 
when  I read  that  it  is  possible  for  man  by  his  own  wisdom 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


445 


and  his  own  words  to  make  Christ  of  none  effect — that  the 
treasure  of  saving  truth  is  deposited  in  earthen  vessels,  and 
therefore  many  may  be  drawn  to  gaze  on  the  painted  de- 
vices, the  curious  singularities  of  the  vessel,  without  seeking 
or  caring  for  any  spiritual  treasure — that  there  may  be  a 
cadence  in  the  song  which  pleaseth  the  ear,  but  which  after 
the  performance  is  over  dieth  away  into  oblivion,  and 
leaveth  not  an  impression  of  power  or  of  permanency  upon 
the  heart — that  the  holy  apostles  preached  not  themselves, 
but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  and  that  in  His  doctrine  there  is 
a simplicity,  every  deviation  from  which  might  perhaps  be 
chargeable  on  the  waywardness  of  the  preacher’s  own 
imagination.  These  are  the  thoughts  which  at  times  have 
involved  me  in  a certain  ambiguity  that  is  hard  to  be  re- 
solved— and  for  which,  after  all,  the  best  touch- stone  is  the 
practical  state  of  your  own  souls,  the  character  of  your 
present  habits,  the  course  of  your  future  history. 

It  is  thus  that  I would  leave  it ; and  thus  only  can  it  be 
made  palpable  to  the  eye  of  mortal,  whether  a genuine 
unction  from  on  high  hath  descended  upon  you — whether 
the  interest  you  have  heretofore  taken  in  the  ministrations 
of  this  pulpit  be  altogether  of  earthly  origin — or  whether, 
indeed,  it  be  heaven-born — a fire  from  the  sanctuary  above, 
or  a spark  of  man’s  kindling — a meteoric  glare  that  passeth 
away,  or  that  light  of  Scripture  and  of  the  spirit  which 
shineth  more  and  more  along  the  track  of  your  worldly 
pilgrimage,  and  will  at  length  usher  you  into  the  unclouded 
glories  of  eternity.  Had  every  mournful  feeling  of  the  cap- 
tives of  Babylon  been  analyzed,  it  would  have  been  found 
of  some  that  they  wept  from  patriotism,  and  of  others  that 
they  wept  from  piety.  The  expression  was  the  same  in  all 
— yet  few  of  them,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  were  Zion’s 
mourners — and  thus  of  the  delight  that  may  be  felt  through- 
out the  continuance  of  gospel  services,  and  the  disappoint- 
ment at  their  close.  There  might  be  mere  humanity,  and 
nothing  more,  in  all  our  tenderness — the  regret  which  na- 
ture feels  at  the  breaking  up  of  an  earthly  fellowship — the 
shock  that  is  ever  experienced  by  friendly  hearts  when  their 


446 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


wonted  relation  is  dissolved.  And  cruel  as  it  may  seem 
thus  to  probe  and  to  anatomize  among  these  sensibilities 
tljat  I myself  have  wounded — it  is  of  truly  religious  im- 
portance to  know,  that  in  the  workings  of  our  mysterious 
nature,  there  may,  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  be  a 
sorrow  that  hath  naught  of  the  spirit  from  above,  there  may 
be  a grief  which  hath  naught  of  godliness. 

Be  aware,  then,  my  brethren,  of  those  manifold  treach- 
eries to  which  the  heart  is  liable,  and  seek  for  the  plain  and 
the  practical  evidences  within  you  that  you  have  indeed 
heard  to  the  salvation  of  your  souls.  There  is  not  one 
Christianity  for  the  philosopher,  and  another  for  the  peasant 
— there  is  not  one  spiritual  repast  served  up  for  the  culti- 
vated and  the  classic  few,  and  another  for  the  homely  and 
unlettered  multitude.  The  garnishing  may  be  different,  and 
perhaps  this  is  not  wrong ; but  be  assured,  that  whether  it 
is  to  the  poor  that  the  gospel  is  preached,  or  to  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  refinement,  the  substance  of  every  right  and 
wholesome  ministration  is  the  same.  And  to  ascertain 
whether  you  have  tasted  of  the  bread  of  life — whether  you 
have  imbibed  the  true  essence  of  spiritual  nourishment — I 
look  not  to  the  gathering  host,  and  the  eager  competition, 
and  the  arrested  audience,  or  to  the  glow  and  the  sentiment 
and  the  tragic  sensibility  that  passes  speedily  away.  These 
will  subside,  and  only  what  is  sterling  will  remain ; and  a 
few  little  months  will  throw  light  upon  the  question,  whether 
you  have  only  heard  with  the  hearing  of  th»  ear,  or  the  word 
of  God  hath  found  its  secure  and  abiding  lodgment  within 
you?  And  even  now,  there  may  be  a something  which 
conscience  can  discern — a recollection  of  self,  and  of  the 
changes  which  self  hath  experienced — that  might  give  the 
token  if  not  the  assurance  of  good  unto  the  soul.  Have  you 
felt,  or  do  you  now  feel,  an  unwonted  sense  upon  your 
spirit  of  its  now  manifest  ungodliness  ? Hath  your  blind- 
ness to  this  been  dissipated  ? — and  now,  adrift  from  the  old 
security  of  nature,  do  you  see  what  an  outcast  you  are  from 
holiness  and  heaven  ? Hath  the  unsettled  controversy  be- 
tween you  and  God  been  a burden  to  your  soul,  and  as  it 


FAREWELL  DISCOLRSE  AY  GLASGOW. 


447 


roamed  in  quest  of  deliverance,  did  the  tidings  fall  with 
welcome  upon  your  ear,  that  unto  you  a Saviour  has  been 
born?  Can  you  listen  without  antipathy  to  that  gospel 
message  which  tells  of  the  peace-speaking  blood  and  the 
sanctifying  Spirit,  and  can  you  now  rest  in  the  one — do  you 
now  pray  for  the  other?  Is  the  truth  that  Christ  died  for 
your  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures — is  this  the  truth 
that  hath  the  chiefest  prominency  in  your  regards,  and  the 
most  habitual  place  in  your  remembrance  ? Is  His  name 
like  ointment  poured  forth ; and  when  you  think  of  His 
work,  even  a propitiation  for  sin,  do  you  feel  it  to  be 
precious  ? How  stand  you  affected  now  in  reference  to 
the  Bible?  — doth  that  phraseology  which  wont  to  offend, 
now  come  with  a charm  and  a power  upon  your  renovated 
taste  ? and  do  you  now  feel  that  dearer  to  your  heart  than 
all  the  splendors  of  human  eloquence  are  the  impressive 
simplicities  of  the  gospel?  In  Scripture,  even  though  alone, 
can  you  find  the  food  that  regales  and  satisfies  ? Do  its 
memorable  passages  that  often  in  other  days  sounded  list- 
lessly in  your  hearing — do  they  now  come  home  with  a 
sense  that  was  before  unfelt  of  their  truth  and  importance; 
and  as  you  travel  through  that  record  of  heaven’s  embas- 
sies to  the  world,  do  you  now  gaze  on  beauties  hitherto 
unrevealed,  and  greatly  delight  yourselves  with  treasures 
of  wisdom  that  were  at  one  time  unnoticed  and  unknown  ? 
Have  you  now  given  up  the  festivities  of  riot  and  profane- 
ness for  the  fellowships  of  piety — the  thirst  of  this  world’s 
gain  for  the  hope  of  the  next  world’s  glory — the  pleasures 
of  sin  which  are  but  for  a season  for  the  fruits  of  that  right- 
eousness which  endureth  for  ever? — these  are  the  elements 
which  enter  into  the  Christianity  of  cottages,  and  if  they  be 
not  the  very  elements  which  are  fixed  and  realized  upon  your- 
selves, then  you  have  no  Christianity.  These  are  the  only 
legitimate  triumphs  of  the  pulpit ; and  apart  from  these, 
eloquence  and  argument  and  learning  are  but  profanation. 
Oh,  how  paltry  they  will  appear  amid  the  solemn  realities 
of  the  judgment-seat ! and  what  a tremendous  reckoning 
of  guilt  should  it  indeed  be  found  that  between  a vaporing 


448 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


exhibition  upon  the  one  side,  and  an  ecstasy  of  admiration 
upon  the  other,  religion  as  a business — religion,  in  sober 
earnest  and  as  a practical  object,  has  been  entirely  disre- 
garded ! 

I have  already  stated  that  all  those  delicacies  which 
stood  in  the  way  of  any  utterance  that  is  important  to  be 
made,  should  give  place  for  the  time  at  least,  and  until  that 
utterance  is  past.  And  on  this  principle  1 now  throw 
aside  for  one  moment  a ceremonial  that  might  else  have 
obstructed  the  declaration  which  I now  hasten  to  make, 
and  which  I deem  to  be  even  of  Christian  importance  that 
you  should  hear.  The  pulpit  ministrations  under  which 
many  of  you  have  now  sat' for  upwards  of  eight  years,  have 
I trust  been  held  by  most  of  you  as  the  ministrations  of  a 
man  in  earnest — that  you  at  least  recognized  in  them  an 
expression  and  perhaps  an  honest  sense  of  the  paramount 
worth  of  the  soul ; and  whatever  their  manifold  imperfec- 
tions may  have  been,  (and  sure  I am  that  they  are  without 
reckoning,)  they  have  often  borne  utterance  in  your  hear- 
ing to  the  supremacy  of  eternal  things  when  put  by  the  side 
of  this  world’s  gayest  and  even  most  glorious  fascinations. 
Now  to  many  an  unpracticed  eye  the  movement  that  I 
now  make  might  seem  in  a most  painful  and  puzzling  incon- 
gruity with  all  this  ; a transition  from  the  pulpit  to  the 
academic  chair  might  be  pronounced  but  a dereliction  of 
sacredness  for  science — of  religion  and  its  holy  services  for 
the  pomp  and  the  pride  and  the  heathenism  of  philosophy. 
When  such  a chargejs  preferred  in  the  spirit  of  calumny,  it 
is  not  worthy  of  a moment’s  attention  ; but  when  it  cometh 
as  the  complaint  of  humble  but  wounded  piety — when  worth 
and  charity  and  Christian  tenderness  have  been  known  to 
weep  over  it  as  a sore  desecration — when  a shock  has  been 
given  thereby  to  faithful  and  to  feeling  souls,  and  something 
like  a scandal  is  apprehended  to  that  cause  which  is  dear- 
est to  their  bosoms  from  the  desertion  of  one  whom  they 
had  ranked  among  the  most  zealous  of  its  advocates — when 
they  are  sensibilities  like  these  with  which  we  have  to  deal 
— the  sorrows  of  honest  affection  and  offended  principle— ^ 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


449 


it  were  barbarous  indeed  not  to  venerate  the  sanctity  of 
such  a grief,  or  to  withhold  any  avowal  that  might  satisfy 
and  soothe  it. 

There  is  no  time,  nor  do  I think  this  a place  for  argu- 
ment ; and  all  therefore  which  I can  at  present  do  to  reas- 
sure the  conviction  that  has  been  in  some  degree  unsettled 
is  to  make  averment  in  your  hearing — and  I do  it  as  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  from  the  depths  of  my  own  conscious 
sincerity,  that  on  retiring  from  the  direct  business  of  the 
Church,  I still  regard  that  Church  as  the  most  glorious  in- 
strument for  the  moral  and  spiritual  regeneration  of  our 
land — that  with  this  our  Zion  are  linked  all  my  fondest  as- 
sociations. whether  of  patriotism  or  of  piety — that  as  holy 
men  of  old  took  pleasure  in  the  stones  of  Jerusalem,  and 
favored  the  very  dust  thereof,  so  dear  to  my  recollection  is 
every  related  thing  which  calls  to  mind  the  business  of 
congregations  and  parishes,  that,  even  apart  from  the  high 
thought  of  each  solemn  assembly  being  an  assembly  of  im- 
mortals, there  is  naught  on  earth  which  has  such  an  im- 
press of  moral  loveliness  to  my  eye  as  its  groups  of  decent 
and  devout  worshipers,  and  naught  that  falls  with  sweeter 
cadence  upon  my  ear  than  the  voice  of  their  melting  psalm- 
ody. But  this  is  the  mere  poetry  of  religion,  and  these  but 
the  good  and  the  graceful  accompaniments  that  attend  the 
exhibition  of  it  in  time.  The  pith  and  sterling  of  its  excel- 
lence lies  in  its  bearing  upon  eternity  ; the  elements  where- 
with it  is  mainly  conversant  are  the  undying  interests  of  the 
soul,  the  sin  by  which  it  is  tainted,  the  Saviour  by  whom  it 
is  restored,  the  hell  to  which  by  nature  it  is  so  fast  hasten- 
ing, the  heaven  for  which  by  grace  it  is  invested  with  all 
the  meet  and  necessary  endowments.  These  are  the  dread 
and  the  solemn  realities  wherewith  a minister  of  the  ever- 
lasting gospel  has  to  do,  and  when  put  by  the  side  of  these 
all  the  glories  of  human  science  vanish  into  the  frivolities 
of  childhood.  This  is  true  Christian  arithmetic.  In  all  the 
calculations  of  usefulness  this  is  the  principle  that  should 
never  be  overlooked — nor,  with  humility  be  it  spoken,  do  I 
hink  that  I have  been  left  to  overlook  or  to  err  in  the  ap- 


150  FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 

plication  of  it.  From  one  of  the  thousand  streams  in  our 
Establishment — a deep  and  a copious  one,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted, but  still  a stream- — a way  hath  been  opened  up  to  one 
of  its  emanating  fountain-heads.  From  the  vocation  of 
laboring  as  one  of  the  many  teachers  or  prophets  in  our 
Church,  I now  enter  upon  the  vocation  of  laboring  in  a 
school  of  the  prophets.  From  the  business  of  directly  work- 
ing the  machine,  I have  been  recalled  to  the  business  of  a 
guidance  and  a guardianship  ov§r  its  elementary  principles 
— or,  in  a manner,  of  feeding  and  regulating  the  fire  that 
actuates  its  movements.  From  the  deep  exhaustion — not 
incurred  at  the  home-walk  of  my  parochial  managements, 
for  at  all  times  was  there  a charm  and  a tranquillity  in 
these — but  from  the  deep  exhaustion  of  hurry  and  fatigue 
and  manifold  distractions  from  without,  have  my  footsteps 
been  lured  into  a most  congenial  resting-place,  among 
whose  academic  bowers  Rutherford  and  Halyburton  spent 
the  evening  of  their  days,  and  amid  whose  venerable  ruins 
their  bodies  now  sleep  until  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 
Should  those  high  and  heavenly  themes  on  which  they  ex- 
patiated through  life,  and  which  shed  a glory  over  their 
death-beds,  ever  cease  to  be  dear  unto  my  bosom — should 
the  glare  of  this  world’s  philosophy  ever  seduce  me  from 
the  wisdom  and  simplicity  of  the  faith — should  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified  not  be  the  end  of  all  my  labors  in  ex- 
pounding the  law  of  righteousness — then  let  the  fearful 
judgments  of  heaven  blight  and  overcast  the  faculties  that  I 
thus  have  prostituted.  If  I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem,  if  I forget 
thee,  O thou  Church  and  city  of  my  God,  let  my  right  hand 
forget  her  cunning.  If  I do  not  remember  thee,  let  my 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  I prefer  not  Jeru- 
salem above  my  chief  joy. 

I have  spoken  to  you,  my  brethren,  in  much  feebleness, 
and  in  the  present  state  of  my  feelings  have  been  wholly 
unable  to  do  justice  to  this  day’s  argument.  There  are 
topics  on  which  I dare  hardly  so  much  as  enter,  and  on 
which,  perhaps,  instead  of  adventuring  any  utterance  in 
this  place,  it  were  more  safe  to  restrain  the  struggling  feel- 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


451 


ings,  and  consign  them  all  back  to  those  silent  depositories 
of  the  heart  where  gratitude  or  good  will  to  you  all  shall 
ever  be  indelibly  engraven.  Yet  let  me  hurry  over  this 
dangerous  course,  or  at  least  attempt  how  much  I can  over- 
take of  it  in  a few  moments  of  rapid  articulation.  I will 
never  forget  that  it  is  your  princely  beneficence  which  has 
carried  me  forward  in  the  enterprise  of  covering  the  parish 
with  those  institutions  both  of  scholarship  and  of  piety  that 
have  done  most  to  grace  and  to  dignify  the  people  of  our 
beloved  land.  I will  never  forget  the  labors  of  that  devoted 
band  to  whose  union  and  whose  perseverance  I still  look  for 
even  greater  services  than  they  have  ever  yet  rendered  in 
the  cause  of  Christian  philanthropy.  I never  will  forget 
the  unexcepted  welcome  and  kindness  of  my  parochial  fam- 
ilies, among  whom  the  cause  that  to  the  superficial  eye  looks 
unpopular  and  austere,  hath  now  found  its  conclusive  estab- 
lishment. I never  will  forget  the  indulgence  and  the  friendly 
regards  of  this  congregation  ; and  I beg  to  assure  each  and 
all  of  them  that  if  a cold  and  ungenial  apathy,  whether  of 
look  or  of  manner,  was  all  the  return  they  ever  could  ob- 
tain for  their  demonstrations  of  Christian  affection  towards 
myself,  it  was  not  because  I had  not  the  conviction  of  that 
manifold  good-will  which  was  on  every  side  of  me,  but 
that  moving  in  a wide  and  busy  sphere,  and  hurried  in  the 
course  of  a few  minutes  from  one  act  of  intercourse  to  an- 
other with  more  than  a thousand  of  my  fellows,  my  jaded 
and  overborne  feelings  could  not  keep  pace  with  it.  Theie 
are  hundreds,  and  hundreds  more,  whom  in  person  I could 
not  overtake,  but  whom,  in  the  hours  of  cool  and  leisurely 
reflection,  I shall  know  how  to  appreciate.  And  when 
I gaze  on  that  quarter — the  richest  to  me  of  all  the 
wide  horizon  in  the  treasures  of  cordiality  and  grateful 
remembrance — then  sweeter  than  to  the  eye  are  those 
tints  of  loveliness  which  the  western  sun  stretches  in 
golden  clouds  above  it,  will  be  the  thought  of  all  the  worth, 
and  the  tenderness  and  the  noble  generosity  that  are 
there.  Oh ! I never  can  forget  the  city  of  so  many 
Christian  and  kind-hearted  men.  I never  will  forget  the 


452 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


countenance  I have  gotten  from  its  upright  and  patriotic 
citizens. 

Let  me  entreat  as  one  parting  memorial,  that  you  will 
treasure  up  the  summary  of  my  own  deeply  felt  experience. 
Martin  Luther  hath  pronounced  it  to  be  the  article  of  a 
standing  or  a falling  Church,  even  that  of  justification  by 
faith  and  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  or  that  the  Church 
will  stand  which  keeps  to  Christ,  and  that  the  church  will 
fall  by  which  he  is  forgotten.  The  same  truth  would  I re- 
cord in  the  hearing  of  you  all — not  in  the  shape  of  a mere 
catechetical  dogma — not  as  one  of  the  catechetical  orthodox 
doctrines — not  as  an  assumption  laid  upon  the  consciences 
of  men  by  the  hand  of  human  intolerance — not,  in  one  word 
with  any  of  these  accompaniments  which  serve  to  revolt 
many  a generous  spirit,  and  to  invest  this  precious,  this 
venerable  truth,  with  the  air  of  a severe  and  scholastic  con- 
troversy. I should  like  it  to  drop  as  balm  on  every  weary 
and  agitated  spirit,  and  to  assure  him  that  if  in  time  past  he 
hath  labored  to  establish  a righteousness  of  his  own,  and 
that  still  his  conscience  warns  him  that  he  is  as  far  both  from 
rest  and  from  spiritual  affection  as  before,  then  let  him  wrap 
himself  round  in  the  garment  of  that  ready  made  righteous- 
ness which  Christ  hath  brought  in,  and  all  will  be  light  and 
love  and  liberty.  This  indeed  is  the  power  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  to  salvation.  This  has  a regenerating 
charm,  not  merely  to  tranquilize  the  sinner’s  fears,  but  to 
turn  him  into  the  ways  of  new  obedience.  The  great 
apostle  was  determined  to  know  nothing  else  among  his 
people  but  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified ; and  this,  not 
to  darken  the  ample  field  of  revelation,  and  leave  nothing 
to  the  eye  of  the  beholder  but  one  naked  and  solitary  apex 
but  to  place  him  on  a summit  whence  he  may  descry  the 
whole  richness  and  variety  of  the  prospect  that  is  spread 
out  before  him.  Let  me  entreat  your  frequent,  your  earn- 
est perusal,  accompanied  with  prayer,  of  the  fifth  chapter  ol 
St.  Paul’s  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  where  the  hope 
of  immortality  and  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  walk  of 
faith,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  life  that  bears  throughout 


FAREWELL  DISCOURSE  AT  GLASGOW. 


453 


all  its  history  a reference  to  the  judgment-seat,  and  the 
principle  of  Christian  obedience,  and  the  mighty  change 
implied  in  Christian  regeneration,  and  the  beseeching  ten- 
derness of  God,  and  his  free  overtures  of  reconciliation  to 
all, — where  these  are  found  to  mingle  together,  not,  it  is 
true,  according  to  the  forms  of  an  artificial  system,  but  in 
the  very  order  of  God’s  own  Spirit.  Oh  ! to  learn  to  sus- 
pend the  whole  on  this  master  proposition,  that  He  hath 
made  Christ  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we 
might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him ! 


SERMON  XIX 


[A  few  years  ago  Dr.  Chalmers  looked  over  and  carefully  assorted  and 
classified  those  of  his  unpublished  pulpit  preparations  which  were  in  short 
hand,  a large  mass  of  which  is  still  existing.  Out  of  these  he  selected  a few 
which  he  extended  into  long  hand,  four  of  which,  viz.,  Sermons  xx.,  xxi., 
xxii.,  xxviii.,  have  in  the  present  volume  been  presented  to  the  reader.  The 
sermon  which  follows  was  one  of  these,  but  as  it  was  more  than  simply  re- 
written, as  it  was  remolded  in  the  transcription,  and  became  Dr.  Chalmers’ 
mOst  favorite  sermon  in  later  years,  I have  thought  it  right  to  place  it  as  be- 
longing to  the  period  which  succeeded  the  Glasgow  ministry.  It  was  writ- 
ten originally  in  two  parts,  and  preached  at  Kilmany  on  October  2,  and  Octo- 
ber 9,  1814.  Even  then  more  than  ordinary  value  appears  to  have  been 
attached  to  it  by  its  author,  as  he  repeated  the  delivery  of  both  parts  at  Kil 
many  on  July  2,  1815,  the  last  Sabbath  but  one  before  leaving  that  parish. 
He  was  much  interested  himself  in  discovering  it  and  re-employing  it  many 
years  after  he  left  Glasgow — after  an  interval,  as  he  himself  calculated,  of 
about  twenty  years.  How  very  frequently  he  used  it  after  its  recovery,  all 
who  of  late  years  have  had  frequent  opportunities  of  hearing  him  preach, 
will  remember.  He  chose  it  as  the  sermon  to  be  delivered,  when  on  a very 
memorable  Sabbath  he  preached  to  a large  assemblage  in  the  lawn  before 
Banchory  House,  on  10th  September  1843;  and  also  when,  to  a smaller  au- 
dience, but  in  a locality  which  deeply  interested  him,  he  preached  in  the 
Free  Church  by  St.  Mary’s  Ldfch,  in  April,  1846.] 

ISAIAH  VII.  3-5. 

“Fury  is  not  in  me  : who  would  set  the  briers  and  thorns  against  me  in  battle  7 I would 
go  through  them,  I would  burn  them  together.  Or  let  him  take  hold  of  my  strength, 
that  he  may  make  peace  with  me  ; and  he  shall  make  peace  with  me.” 

There  are  three  distinct  lessons  in  this  text.  The  first, 
that  fury  is  not  in  God : the  second,  that  He  does  not  want 
to  glorify  Himself  by  the  death  of  sinner.s — “ Who  would 
set  the  thorns  and  briers  against  me  in  battle  ?”  the  third, 
the  invitation — “ Take  hold  of  my  strength,  that  you  may 
make  peace  with  me  ; and  you  shall  make  peace  with  me.” 

I.  First,  then,  Fury  is  not  in  God.  But  how  can  this  be  ? 
is  not  fury  one  manifestation  of  His  essential  attributes  ? 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


455 


do  we  not  repeatedly  read  of  His  fury — of  Jerusalem  being 
full  of  the  fury  of  the  Lord — of  God  casting  the  fury  of  His 
wrath  upon  the  world — of  Him  rendering  His  anger  upon 
His  enemies  with  fury — of  Him  accomplishing  his  fury 
upon  Zion — of  Him  causing  his  fury  to  rest  on  the  bloody 
and  devoted  city?  We  are  not  therefore  to  think  that  fury 
is  banished  altogether  from  God’s  administration.  There 
are  times  and  occasions  when  this  fury  is  discharged  upon 
the  objects  of  it ; and  there  must  be  other  times  and  other 
occasions  when  there  is  no  fury  in  Him.  Now,  what  is 
the  occasion  upon  which  He  disclaims  all  fury  in  our  text? 
He  is  inviting  men  to  reconciliation;  He  is  calling  upon 
them  to  make  peace  ; and  He  is  assuring  them,  that  if  they 
will  only  take  hold  of  His  strength,  they  shall  make  peace 
with  Him.  In  the  preceding  verses  He  speaks  of  a vine- 
yard ; and  in  the  act  of  inviting  people  to  lay  hold  of  His 
strength,  He  is  in  fact  inviting  those  who  are  without  the 
limits  of  the  vineyard  to  enter  in.  Fury  will  be  discharged 
on  those  who  reject  the  invitation.  But  we  cannot  say  * 
that  there  is  any  exercise  of  fury  in  God  at  the  time  of  giv- 
ing the  invitation.  There  is  the  most  visible  and  direct 
contrary.  There  is  a longing  desire  after,  you.  There  is 
a wish  to  save  you  from  that  day  in  which  the  fury  of  a 
rejected  Saviour  will  be  spread  abroad  over  all  who  have 
despised  Him.  The  tone  of  invitation  is  not  a tone  of  an- 
ger— it  is  a tone  of  tenderness.  The  look  which  accom- 
panies the  invitation  is  not  a look  of  wrath — it  is  a look  of 
affection.  There  may  be  a time,  there  may  be  an  occasion 
when  the  fury  of  God  will  be  put  forth  on  the  men  who 
have  held  but  against  Him,  and  turned  them  away  in  infi- 
delity and  contempt  from  His  beseeching  voice  ; but  at 
the  time  that  he  is  lifting  this  voice — at  the  time  that 
He  is#  sending  messengers  over  the  face  of  the  earth  to 
circulate  it  among  the  habitations  of  men — at  the  time 
particularly  among  ourselves,  when  in  our  own  place  and 
our  own  day  Bibles  are  within  the  reach  of  every  fam- 
ily, and  ministers  in  every  pulpit  are  sounding  forth  the 
overtures  of  the  gospel  throughout  the  land — surely  at  such 


456 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


a time  and  upon  such  an  occasion,  it  may  well  be  said  of 
God  to  all  who  are  now  seeking  His  face  and  favor,  that 
there  is  no  fury  in  Him. 

It  is  just  as  in  the  parable  of  the  marriage  feast : many 
rejected  the  invitation  which  the  king  gave  to  it — for  which 
he  was  wroth  with  them,  and  sent  forth  his  armies  and  de- 
stroyed them,  and  burned  up  their  city.  On  that  occasion 
there  was  fury  in  the  king,  and  on  the  like  occasion  will 
there  be  fury  in  God.  But  well  can  He  say  at  the  time 
when  He  is  now  giving  the  invitation — there  is  no  fury  in 
me.  There  is  kindness — a desire  for  peace  and  friendship 
— a longing  earnestness  to  make  up  the  quarrel  which  now 
subsists  between  the  Lawgiver  in  heaven,  and  His  yet  im- 
penitent and  unreconciled  creatures. 

This  very  process  was  all  gone  through  at  and  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  It  rejected  the  warnings 
and  invitations  of  the  Saviour,  and  at  length  experienced 
His  fury.  But  there  was  no  fury  at  the  time  of  His  giving 
the  invitations.  The  tone  of  our  Saviour’s  voice  when  He 
uttered — “ O Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,”  was  not  the  tone  of  a 
vindictive  and  irritated  fury.  There  was  compassion  in 
it — a warning  and  pleading  earnestness  that  they  would 
mind  the  things  which  belong  to  their  peace ; and  at  that 
time  when  He  would  willingly  have  gathered  them  as  a 
hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings — then  may  it 
well  be  said  that  there  was  no  fury  in  the  Son  of  God,  no 
fury  in  God. 

Let  us  make  the  application  to  ourselves  in  the  present 
day.  On  the  last  day  there  will  be  a tremendous  discharge 
of  fury.  That  wrath  which  sinners  are  now  doing  so  much 
to  treasure  up  will  all  be  poured  forth  on  them.  The  sea- 
son of  God’s  mercy  will  then  have  come  to  an  end ; and 
after  the  sound  of  the  last  trumpet,  there  will  never#more 
be  heard  the  sounding  call  of  reconciliation.  Oh,  my  breth- 
ren, that  God  who  is  grieved  and  who  is  angry  with  sin- 
ners every  day,  will  in  the  last  day  pour  it  all  forth  in  one 
mighty  torrent  on  the  heads  of  the  impenitent.  It  is  now 
gathering  and  accumulating  in  a store-house  of  vengeance; 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


457 


and  at  the  awful  poinUin  the  successive  history  of  nature 
and  providence,  when  time  shall  be  no  more,  will  the  door 
of  this  store-house  be  opened,  that  the  fury  of  the  Lord 
may  break  loose  upon  the  guilty,  and  accomplish  upon 
them  the  weight  and  the  terror  of  all  His  threatenings. 
You  misunderstand  the  text,  then,  my  brethren,  if  you  in- 
fer from  it  that  fury  has  no  place  in  the  history  or  methods 
of  God’s  administration.  It  has  its  time  and  its  occasion — 
and  the  very  greatest  display  of  it  is  yet  to  come,  when 
the  earth  shall  be  burned  up,  and  the  heavens  shall  be  dis- 
solved, and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  and 
the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  His 
mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  those 
who  know  not  God,  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ;  and  they  shall  be  punished  with  everlast- 
ing destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from 
the  glory  of  His  power.  It  makes  one  shudder  seriously 
to  think  that  there  may  be  some  here  present  whom  this 
devouring  torrent  of  wrath  shall  sweep  away ; some  here 
present  who  will  be  drawn  into  the  whirl  of  destruction, 
and  forced  to  take  their  descending  way  through  the  mouth 
of  that  pit  where  the  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched ; some  here  present  who  so  far  from  experiencing 
in  their  own  persons  that  there  is  no  fury  in  God,  will  find 
that  throughout  the  dreary  extent  of  one  hopeless  and  end- 
less and  unmitigated  eternity,  it  is  the  only  attribute  of  His 
they  have  to  do  with.  But  hear  me,  hear  me  ere  you  have 
taken  your  bed  in  hell ; hear  me,  ere  that  prison  door  be 
shut  upon  you  which  is  never,  never  again  to  be  opened  ! 
hear  me,  hear  me  ere  the  great  day  of  the  revelation  of 
God’s  wrath  comes  round,  and  there  shall  be  a total  break- 
ing up  of  that  system  of  things  which  looks  at  present  so 
stable  and  so  unalterable  ! On  that  awful  day  I might  not 
be  able  to  take  up  the  text  and  say — that  there  is  no  fury 
in  God.  But,  oh ! hear  me,  for  your  lives  hear  me — on  this 
day  I can  say  it.  From  the  place  where  I now  stand  I can 
throw  abroad  amongst  you  thfc  wide  announcement — that 
there  is  no  fury  in  God  ; and  there  is  not  one  of  you  into 


458 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD 


whose  heart  this  announcement  may  not  enter,  and  wel 
come  will  you  be  to  strike  with  your  beseeching  God  a 
league  of  peace  and  of  friendship  that  shall  never  be  broken 
asunder.  Surely  when  I am  busy  at  my  delegated  employ- 
ment of  holding  out  the  language  of  entreaty,  and  of  sound- 
ing in  your  ears  the  tidings  of  gladness,  and  of  inviting 
you  to  enter  into  the  vineyard  of  God — surely  at  the  time 
when  the  messenger  of  the  gospel  is  thus  executing  the 
commission  wherewith  he  is  charged  and  warranted,  he 
may  well  say — that  there  is  no  fury  in  God.  Surely  at  the 
time  when  the  Son  of  God  is  inviting  you  to  kiss  Him  and 
to  enter  into  reconciliation,  there  is  neither  the  feeling  nor 
the  exercise  of  fury.  It  is  only  if  you  refuse,  and  if  you 
persist  in  refusing,  and  if  you  suffer  all  these  calls  and  en- 
treaties to  be  lost  upon  you — it  is  only  then  that  God  will 
execute  His  fury,  and  put  forth  the  power  of  His  anger. 
And  therefore  He  says  to  us,  “Kiss  the  Son,  lest  He  be 
angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way,  when  His  wrath  is  kin- 
dled but  a little.”  Such,  then,  is  the  interesting  point  of 
time  at  which  you  stand.  There  is  no  fury  in  God  at  the 
very  time  that  He  is  inviting  you  to  flee  from  it.  He  is 
sending  forth  no  blasting  influence  upon  the  fig-tree,  even 
though  hitherto  it  had  borne  no  fruit,  and  been  a mere  cum- 
berer  of  the  ground,  when  He  says,  we  shall  let  it  alone  for 
another  year,  and  dig  it,  and  dress  it,  and  if  it  bear  fruit, 
well  ; and  if  not,  then  let  it  be  afterwards  cut  down.  Now, 
my  brethren,  you  are  all  in  the  situation  of  this  fig-tree  ; 
you  are  for  the  present  let  alone;  God  has  purposes  of  kind- 
ness towards  every  one  of  you ; and  as  one  of  His  minis- 
ters I can  now  say  to  you  all — that  there  is  no  fury  in  Him. 
Now  when  the  spiritual  husbandman  is  trying  to  soften 
your  hearts  he  is  warranted  to  make  a full  use  of  the  argu- 
ment of  my  text — that  there  is  no  fury  in  God.  Now  that 
the  embassador  of  Christ  is  plying  you  with  the  offers  of 
grace  and  of  strength  to  renew  and  to  make  you  fruitful 
he  is  surely  charged  with  matter  of  far  different  import  from 
wrath  and  threatening  and  vengeance.  Oh  ! let  not  all 
this  spiritual  husbandry  turn  out  to  be  unavailing  ; let  not 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


45» 


the  offer  be  made  now,  and  no  fruit  appear  afterwards;  let 
not  yours  be  the  fate  of  the  barren  and  unfruitful  fig-tree. 
The  day  of  the  fury  of  the  Lord  is  approaching.  The  burn- 
ing up  of  this  earth  and  the  passing  away  of  these  heavens 
is  an  event  in  the  history  of  God’s  administration  to  which 
we  are  continually  drawing  nearer  ; and  on  that  day  when 
the  whole  of  universal  nature  shall  be  turned  into  a heap 
of  ruins,  and  we  shall  see  the  gleam  of  a mighty  conflagra- 
tion, and  shall  hear  the  noise  of  the  frame-work  of  creation 
rending  into  fragments,  and  a cry  shall  be  raised  from  a 
despairing  multitude  out  of  the  men  of  all  generations,  who 
have  just  awoke  from  their  resting-places — and  amid  all 
the  bustle  and  consternation  that  is  going  on  below,  such  a 
sight  shall  be  witnessed  from  the  canopy  of  heaven  as  will 
spread  silence  over  the  face  of  the  world,  and  fix  and  sol- 
emnize every  individual  of  its  incumbent  population.  Oh 
my  brethren,  let  us  not  think  that  on  that  day  when  the 
Judge  is  to  appear  charged  with  the  mighty  object  of  vin- 
dicating before  men  and  angels  the  truth  and  the  majesty 
of  God — that  the  fury  of  God  will  not  then  appear  in  bright 
and  burning  manifestation.  But  what  I have  to  tell  you 
on  this  day  is,  that  fury  is  not  in  God — that  now  is  the 
time  of  those  things  which  belong  to  the  peace  of  our  eter- 
nity ; and  that  if  you  will  only  hear  on  this  the  day  of  your 
merciful  visitation,  you  will  be  borne  off  in  safety  from  all 
those  horrors  of  dissolving  nature,  and  amid  the  wild  war 
and  frenzy  of  its  reeling  elements,  will  be  carried  by  the 
arms  of  love  to  a place  of  security  and  everlasting  triumph. 

II.  This  brings  us  to  the  second  head  of  discourse — God 
is  not  wanting  to  glorify  Himself  by  the  death  of  sinners — 
“ Who  would  set  the  thorns  and  the  briers  against  me  in 
battle  ?”  The  wicked  and  the  righteous  are  often  repre- 
sented in  Scripture  by  figures  taken  from  the  vegetable 
world.  The  saved  and  sanctified  are  called  trees  of 
righteousness,  the  planting  of  the  Lord  that  He  might  be 
glorified.  The  godly  man  is  said  to  be  like  a tree  planted 
by  the  rivers  of  water,  which  bringeth  forth  its  fruit  in  its 


460 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


season.  The  judgment  which  cometh  upon  a man  is  com- 
pared to  an  ax  laid  to  the  root  of  a tree.  A tree  is  said 
to  be  known  by  its  fruits ; and  as  a proof  that  the  kind  of 
character  of  men  is  specified  by  the  kind  of  tree  in  the 
woods,  we  read  that  of  thorns  men  do  not  gather  figs,  nor 
of  the  bramble-bush  gather  they  grapes.  You  will  observe 
that  the  thorn  is  one  of  the  kinds  instanced  in  the  text,  and 
when  God  says,  I would  go  through  them,  I would  burn 
them  together,  He  speaks  of  the  destruction  which  cometh 
on  all  who  remain  in  the  state  of  thorns  and  briers ; and 
this  agrees  with  what  we  read  in  the  epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, “ That  which  bearelh  thorns  and  briers  is  rejected, 
and  is  nigh  unto  cursing,  whose  end  is  to  be  burned.” 
Thorns  and  briers  are  in  other  places  still  more  directly 
employed  to  signify  the  enemies  of  God.  “ And  the  light 
of  Israel  shall  be  for  a fire,”  says  one  of  the  prophets,  “ and 
his  Holy  One  for  a flame,  and  it  shall  burn  and  devour  His 
thorns  and  His  briers  in  one  day.”  Therefore,  when  God 
says  in  the  text,  “ Who  would  set  the  thorns  and  the  briers 
against  me  in  battle?  I would  go  through  them,  I would 
burn  them  together,”  He  speaks  of  the  ease  wherewith  He 
could  accomplish  His  wrath  upon  His  enemies.  They 
would  perish  before  Him  like  the  moth.  They  could  not 
stand  the  lifting  up  of  the  red  right  arm  of  the  displeasure 
of  Almighty  God.  Why  set  up,  then,  a contest  so  unequal 
as  this  ? Why  put  the  wicked  in  battle  array  against  Him 
who  could  go  through  them  and  devour  them  in  an  instant 
by  the  breath  of  His  fury  ? God  is  saying  in  the  text  that 
this  is  not  what  He  is  wanting.  He  does  not  want  to  set 
Himself  forth  as  an  enemy,  or  as  a strong  man  armed 
against  them  for  the  battle — it  is  a battle  He  is  not  at  all 
disposed  to  enter  into.  The  glory  He  would  achieve  by  a 
victory  over  a host  so  feeble,  is  not  a glory  that  His  heart 
is  at  all  set  upon.  Oh,  no  ! ye  children  of  men,  He  has  no 
pleasure  in  your  death  ; He  is  not  seeking  to  magnify  Him- 
self by  the  destruction  of  so  paltry  a foe  ; He  could  devour 
you  in  a moment : He  could  burn  you  up  like  stubble  ; and 
you  mistake  it  if  you  think  that  renown  on  so  poor  a field 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


461 


of  contest  is  a renown  that  He  is  at  all  aspiring  after. 
Who  would  set  the  grasshoppers  in  battle  array  against  the 
giants  ? Who  would  set  thorns  and  briers  in  battle  array 
against  God  ? This  is  not  what  He  wants : He  would 
rather  something  else.  Be  assured,  He  would  rather  you 
were  to  turn,  and  to  live,  and  to  come  into  His  vineyard, 
and  submit  to  the  regenerating  power  of  His  spiritual  hus- 
bandry, and  be  changed  from  the  nature  of  an  accursed 
plant  to  a tree  of  righteousness.  In  the  language  of  the 
next  verse,  He  would  rather  that,  this  enemy  of  His,  not 
yet  at  peace  with  Him,  and  who  may  therefore  be  likened 
to  a brier  or  a thorn — He  would  rather  than  he  remained 
so  that  he  should  take  hold  of  God’s  strength,  that  he  may 
make  peace  with  Him-— and  as  the  fruit  of  his  so  doing,  he 
shall  make  peace  with  Him. 

Now  tell  me  if  this  do  not  open  up  a most  wonderful  and 
a most  inviting  view  of  God  ? It  is  the  real  attitude  in 
which  He  puts  Himself  forth  to  us  in  the  gospel  of  His  Son. 
He  there  says,  in  the  hearing  of  all  to  whom  the  word  of 
this  salvation  is  sent,  “ Why  will  ye  die  ?”  It  is  true  that 
by  your  death  He  could  manifest  the  dignity  of  His  God- 
head ; He  could  make  known  the  power  of  His  wrath  ; He 
could  spread  the  awe  of  His  truth  and  His  majesty  over 
the  whole  territory  of  His  government,  and  send  forth  to 
its  uttermost  limits  the  glories  of  His  strength  and  His  im- 
mutable sovereignty.  But  He  does  not  want  to  magnify 
Himself  over  you  in  this  way : He  has  no  ambition  what- 
ever after  the  renown  of  such  a victory,  over  such  weak 
and  insignificant  enemies.  Their  resistance  were  no  trial 
whatever  to  His  strength  or  to  His  greatness.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  destruction  of  creatures  so  weak  that  can 
at  all  bring  Him  any  distinction,  or  throw  any  aggrandize- 
ment around  Him.  And  so  in  Scripture  everywhere  do 
we  see  Him  pleading  and  protesting  with  you  that  He  does 
not  want  to  signalize  Himself  upon  the  ruin  of  any,  but 
w’ould  rather  that  they  should  turn  and  be  saved. 

And  now,  my  brethren,  what  remains  for  you  to  do? 
God  is  willing  to  save  you : are  you  willing  to  be  saved  ? 


462 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


The  way  is  set  before  you  most  patently  and  clearly  in  the 
Bible — nay,  the  very  text,  brief  as  it  is,  points  out  to  you 
the  way,  as  I shall  endeavor  to  explain  and  set  before  you 
in  the  third  head  of  discourse.  But  meanwhile,  and  all  the 
better  to  secure  a hearing  from  you,  let  me  ask  you  to  lay 
it  upon  your  consciences,  whether  you  are  in  a state  that 
will  do  for  you  to  die  in.  If  not,  then  I beseech  you  to 
think  how  certainly  death  will,  and  how  speedily  it  may, 
come  upon  the  likeliest  of  you  all.  The  very  youngest 
among  you  know  very  well,  that  if  not  cut  off  previously — 
which  is  a very  possible  thing — then  manhood  will  come, 
and  old  age  will  come,  and  the  dying  bed  will  come,  and 
the  very  last  look  you  shall  ever  cast  on  your  acquaint- 
ances will  come,  and  the  agony  of  the  parting  breath  will 
come,  and  the  time  when  you  are  stretched  a lifeless  corpse 
before  the  eyes  of  weeping  relatives  will  come,  and  the 
coffin  that  is  to  inclose  you  will  come,  and  that  hour  when 
the  company  assemble  to  carry  you  to  the  churchyard  will 
come,  and  that  minute  when  you  are  put  into  the  grave  will 
come,  and  the  throwing  in  of  the  loose  earth  into  the  nar- 
row house  where  you  are  laid,  and  the  spreading  of  the 
green  sod  over  it — all,  all  will  come  on  every  living  creat- 
ure who  now  hears  me ; and  in  a few  little  years  the 
minister  who  now  speaks,  and  the  people  who  now  listen, 
will  be  carried  to  their  long  homes,  and  make  room  for 
another  generation.  Now,  all  this,  you  know,  must  and 
will  happen — your  common  sense  and  common  experience 
serve  to  convince  you  of  it.  Perhaps  it  may  have  been 
little  thought  of  in  the  days  of  careless  and  thoughtless  and 
thankless  unconcern  which  you  have  spent  hitherto ; but  I 
call  upon  you  to  think  of  it  now,  to  lay  it  seriously  to  heart, 
and  no  longer  to  trifle  and  delay,  when  the  high  matters  of 
death  and  judgment  and  eternity  are  thus  set  so  evidently 
before  you.  And  the  tidings  wherewith  I am  charged — 
and  the  blood  lieth  upon  your  own  head  and  not  upon 
mine,  if  you  will  not  listen  to  them — the  object  of  my  com- 
ing amongst  you,  is  to  let  you  know  what  more  things  are 
to  come  ; it  is  to  carry  you  beyond  the  regions  of  sight  and 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


463 


of  sense  to  the  regions  of  faith,  and  to  assure  you,  in  the 
name  of  Him  who  cannot  lie,  that  as  sure  as  the  hour  of 
laying  the  body  in  the  grave  comes,  so  surely  will  also 
come  the  hour  of  the  spirit  returning  to  the  God  who  gave 
it.  Yes,  and  the  day  of  final  reckoning  will  come,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  Son  of  God  in  heaven,  and  His  mighty 
angels  around  Him,  will  come,  and  the  opening  of  the  books 
will  come,  and  the  standing  of  the  men  of  all  generations 
before  the  judgment-seat  will  come,  and  the  solemn  passing 
of  that  sentence  which  is  to  fix  you  for  eternity  will  come. 
Yes,  and  if  you  refuse  to  be  reconciled  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  now  that  He  is  beseeching  you  to  be  so,  and  if  you 
refuse  to  turn  from  the  evil  of  your  ways,  and  to  do  and  to 
be  what  your  Saviour  would  have  you,  I must  tell  you 
what  that  sentence  is  to  be — “ Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed, 
into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.” 

There  is  a way  of  escape  from  the  fury  of  this  tremen- 
dous storm.  There  is  a pathway  of  egress  from  the  state 
of  condemnsftion  to  the  state  of  acceptance.  There  is  a 
method  pointed  out  in  Scripture  by  which  we,  who  by 
nature  are  the  children  of  wrath,  may  come  to  be  at  peace 
with  God.  Let  all  ears  be  open  then  to  our  explanation  of 
this  way,  as  we  bid  you  in  the  language  of  our  text  take 
hold  of  God’s  strength,  that  you  may  make  peace  with  Him, 
and  which  if  you  do,  you  shall  make  peace  with  Him. 

III.  Read  now  the  fifth  verse  : — “ Or  let  him  take  hold 
of  my  strength,  that  he  may  make  peace  with  me  ; and  he 
shall  make  peace  with  me.”  Or  here  is  the  same  with 
rather.  Rather  than  that  what  is  spoken  of  in  the  fourth 
verse  should  fall  upon  you — rather  than  that  I should  en- 
gage in  battle  with  mine  enemies — rather  than  that  a result 
so  melancholy  to  them  should  take  place,  as  my  going 
through  them  and  burning  them  together — rather  than  that 
all  this  should  happen,  I would  greatly  prefer  that  they  took 
hold  of  my  strength  in  order  to  make  peace  with  me ; and 
I promise,  as  the  sure  effect  of  this  proceeding,  that  they 
shall  make  peace  with  me.  We  have  not  far  to  seek  for 


464 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


what  is  meant  by  this  strength,  for  Isaiah  himself  speaks 
(ch.  xxxiii.  6)  of  the  strength  of  salvation.  It  is  not  your 
destruction  but  your  salvation  that  God  wants  to  put  forth 
His  strength  in.  There  has  strength  been  already  put 
forth  in  the  deliverance  of  a guilty  world — the  very  strength 
which  He  wants  you  to  lay  hold  of.  He  will  be  glorified 
in  the  destruction  of  the  sinner,  but  He  would  like  better  to 
be  glorified  by  his  salvation.  To  destroy  you  is  to  do  no 
more  than  to  set  fire  to  briers  and  thorns,  and  to  consume 
them ; but  to  save  you — this  is  indeed  the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdom  of  God — this  is  the  mighty  achievement 
which  angels  desire  to  look  into — this  is  the  enterprise  upon 
which  a mighty  Captain  embarked  all  the  energy  that  be- 
longed to  Him,  and  traveled  in  the  greatness  of  His  strength 
until  that  He  accomplished  it ; and  now  that  it  is  accom- 
plished, God  would  much  rather  be  glorified  in  the  salvation 
of  His  saints,  than  glorified  in  the  destruction  of  sinners. 
(2  Thess.  i.  7,  10.)  God  will  show  His  wrath,  and  make 
His  power  known  in  the  destruction  of  the  sinner.  But  it 
is  a more  glorious  work  of  power  to  redeem  that  sinner, 
and  this  He  engages  to  do  for  you,  if  you  will  take  hold  of 
His  strength.  He  would  greatly  prefer  this  way  of  mak- 
ing His  power  known.  He  does  not  want  to  enter  into 
battle  with  you,  or  to  consume  you  like  stubble  by  the 
breath  of  His  indignation.  No ; He  wants  to  transform 
sinners  into  saints  : He  wants  to  transform  vessels  of  wrath 
into  vessels  of  mercy,  and  to  make  known  the  riches  of  His 
glory  on  those  whom  He  had  afore  prepared  unto  glory. 
There  is  a strength  put  forth  in  the  destruction  of  the  sin- 
ner, but  there  is  also  a strength  put  forth  in  the  salvation 
of  a sinner,  and  this  is  the  strength  which  He  wants  you  to 
lay  hold  of  in  my  text — this  is  the  strength  by  the  display 
of  which  He  would  prefer  being  glorified.  He  would 
rather  decline  entering  into  a contest  with  you  sinners ; 
for  to  gain  a victory  over  you  would  be  no  more  to  Him 
than  to  fight  with  the  briers  and  the  thorns,  and  to  consume 
them.  But  from  enemies  to  make  friends  of  you ; from 
the  children  of  wrath  to  transform  you  into  the  children  of 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


46- 


adoption  ; from  the  state  of  guilt  to  accomplish  such  a 
mighty  and  a wonderful  change  upon  you,  as  to  put  you 
into  the  state  of  justification ; from  the  servants  of  sin  to 
make  you  in  the  day  of  His  power  the  willing  servants  of 
God ; to  chase  away  from  your  faculties  the  darkness  of 
nature,  and  to  make  all  light  and  comfort  around  you ; to 
turn  you  from  a slave  of  sense,  and  to  invest  with  all  their 
rightful  ascendency  over  your  affections  the  things  of  eter- 
nity ; to  pull  down  the  strongholds  of  corruption  within  you, 
and  raise  him  who  was  spiritually  dead  to  a life  of  new 
obedience  ; — this  is  the  victory  over  you  which  God  aspires 
after.  It  is  not  your  destruction  or  your  death  that  He  de- 
lights in,  or  that  He  wants  to  be  glorified  by — it  is  your 
thorough  and  complete  salvation  from  the  punishment  of 
sin,  and  the  power  of  sin,  on  which  He  is  desirous  of  exalt- 
ing the  glory  of  His  strength,  and  this  is  the  strength  which 
He  calls  you  to  take  hold  upon. 

Let  me  now,  in  what  remains,  first  say  a few  things  more 
upon  this  strength — the  strength  of  salvation  which  is  spoken 
of  in  the  text — and  then  state  very  briefly  what  it  is  to  lay 
hold  of  it. 

And  first  we  read  of  a mighty  strength  that  had  to  be 
put  forth  in  the  work  of  a sinner’s  justification.  You  know 
that  all  men  are  sinners,  and  so  all  are  under  the  righteous 
condemnation  of  God.  How,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  dif- 
ficult and  wonderful,  can  these  sinners  ever  get  this  con- 
demnation removed  from  them  ? By  what  new  and  un- 
heard of  process  can  the  guilty  before  God  ever  again  be- 
come justified  in  His  sight?  How  from  that  throne,  of 
which  it  is  said  that  judgment  and  justice  are  the  habita- 
tion, can  the  sentence  of  acquittal  ever  be  heard  on  the 
children  of  iniquity?  How  can  God’s  honor  be  kept  en- 
tire in  the  sight  of  angels,  if  we  men  who  have  repeatedly 
mocked  Him  and  insulted  Him,  and  made  our  own  wish 
and  our  own  way  take  the  precedency  of  His  high  and  sol- 
emn requirements — if  we,  with  all  this  contempt  of  the  Law- 
giver expressed  in  our  lives,  and  all  this  character  of  rebel- 
lion against  Him  written  upon  our  foreheads,  shall  be  ad- 


466 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


mitted  to  a place  of  distinction  in  heaven — and  that  too 
after  God  has  committed  Himself  in  the  hearing  of  angels 
— after  He  had  given  us  a law  by  the  disposition  of  angels, 
and  we  had  not  kept  it — and  after  He  had  said  how  the 
wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished,  but  that  cursed  is  every 
one  who  continueth  not  in  all  the  words  of  the  book  of  God’s 
law  to  do  them  ? But  what  is  more,  it  was  not  merely  the 
good  and  the  obedient  angels  who  knew  our  rebellion — the 
malignant  and  fallen  angels  not  only  knew  it,  but  they  de- 
vised and  they  prompted  it.  And  how,  I would  ask,  can 
God  keep  the  awful  majesty  of  His  truth  and  justice  entire 
in  the  sight  of  His  adversaries,  if  Satan  and  the  angels  of 
wickedness  along  with  him  shall  have  it  in  their  power  to 
say — we  prevailed  on  man  to  insult  Him  by  sin,  and  have 
compelled  God  to  put  up  with  the  affront,  and  to  connive 
at  it  ? 

Now,  just  in  proportion  to  the  weight  and  magnitude  of 
the  obstacle  was  the  greatness  of  that  strength  which  the 
Saviour  put  forth  in  the  mighty  work  of  moving  it  away. 
We  have  no  adequate  conception  upon  this  matter,  and 
must  just  take  our  lesson  from  revelation  about  it ; — and 
whether  we  take  the  prophecies  which  foretold  the  work 
of  our  Redeemer,  or  the  history  which  relates  it,  or  the 
doctrine  which  expatiates  on  its  worth  and  its  efficacy — all 
go  to  establish  that  there  was  the  operation  of  a power — 
that  there  was  the  severity  of  a conflict — that  there  was 
the  high  emprise  of  an  arduous  and  mighty  warfare — that 
there  were  all  the  throes  and  all  the  exertions  of  a strug- 
gling, and  at  length  a prevailing  energy  in  the  execution 
of  that  work  which  our  Saviour  had  to  do — that  He  had  a 
barrier  to  surmount,  and  that,  too,  with  the  cries  and  the 
pains  and  the  sorrows. of  heavy  suffering  and  labor — that  a 
mighty  obstacle  lay  before  Him,  and  He,  in  the  business 
of  removing  it,  had  to  travel  in  all  the  greatness  of  the  fac- 
ulties which  belonged  to  Him^-that  there  was  a burden 
aid  upon  His  shoulders,  which  by  no  one  else  but  the  Prince 
of  Peace  could  have  been  borne — that  there  was  a task  put 
into  His  hand  which  none  but  He  could  fulfill.  And  had 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


467 


the  question  ever  been  reasoned  throughout  the  hosts  of 
paradise,  Who  can  so  bend  the  unchangeable  attributes  of 
God,  who  can  give  them  a shift  so  wonderful,  that  the  sin- 
ners who  have  insulted  Him  may  be  taken  into  forgiveness, 
and  His  honor  be  kept  untainted  and  entire  ? — there  is  not 
one  of  the  mighty  throng  who  would  not  have  shrunk  from 
an  enterprise  so  lofty.  There  is  not  one  of  them  who  could 
at  once  magnify  the  law  and  release  man  from  its  violated 
sanctions.  There  is  not  one  of  them  who  could  turn  its 
threatening  away  from  us,  and  at  the  same  time  give  to 
the  truth  and. the  justice  of  God  their  brightest  manifesta- 
tion. There  is  not  one  of  them  who  could  unravel  the 
mystery  of  our  redemption  through  all  the  difficulties  which 
beset  and  which  surround  it.  There  is  not  one  of  them 
who,  by  the  strength  of  his  arm,  could  have  obtained  the 
conquest  over  these  difficulties.  And  however  little  we 
may  enter  into  the  elements  of  this  weighty  speculation, 
let  us  forget  not  that  the  question  was  not  merely  between 
God  and  man — it  was  between  God  and  all  the  creatures 
He  had  formed.  They  saw  the  dilemma ; they  felt  how 
deeply  it  involved  the  character  of  the  Deity ; they  per- 
ceived its  every  bearing  on  the  majesty  of  His  attributes, 
and  on  the  stability  of  the  government  that  was  upheld  by 
Him.  With  them  it  was  a matter  of  deep  and  most  sub- 
stantial interest ; and  when  the  Eternal  Son  stepped  for- 
ward to  carry  the  undertaking  to  its  end,  the  feeling  amongst 
them  all  was  that  a battle  behoved  to  be  fought,  and  that 
the  strength  of  this  mighty  Captain  of  our  salvation  was 
alone  equal  to  the  achievement  of  the  victory. 

“ Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed  gar- 
ments from  Bozrah?  this  that  is  glorious  in  His  apparel, 
traveling  in  the  greatness  of  His  strength  ? I that  speak 
in  righteousness,  mighty  to  save.  Wherefore  art  thou  red 
in  thine  apparel,  and  thy  garments  like  him  that  treadeth 
in  the  wine-fat  ? I have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone ; 
and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  me:  for  I will  tread 
them  in  mine  anger,  and  trample  them  in  my  fury ; and 
their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled  upon  my  garments,  and  I 


468 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


will  stain  all  my  raiment.  For  the  day  of  vengeance  is  in 
mine  heart,  and  the  year  of  my  redeemed  is  come.  And 
I looked,  and  there  was  none  to  help  ; and  I wondered 
that  there  was  none  to  uphold ; therefore  mine  own  arm 
brought  salvation  unto  me ; and  my  fury,  it  upheld  me.” 

A way  of  redemption  has  been  found  out  in  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  divine  wisdom,  and  Christ  is  called  the  wis- 
dom of  God.  But  the  same  Christ  is  also  called  the  power 
of  God.  In  the  mighty  work  of  redemption  He  put  forth 
a strength,  and  it  is  that  strength  that  we  are  called  to  take 
hold  upon.  There  was  a wonderful  strength  in  bearing 
the  wrath  which  would  have  fallen  on  the  millions  and 
millions  more  of  a guilty  world.  There  was  a strength 
which  bore  Him  up  under  the  agonies  of  the  garden. 
There  was  a strength  which  supported  Him  under  the 
hidings  of  His  Father’s  countenance.  There  was  a 
strength  which  upheld  Him  in  the  dark  hour  of  the  travail 
of  His  soul,  and  which  one  might  think  had  well-nigh  given 
way  when  He  called  out,  “ My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
Thou  forsaken  me?”  There  was  a strength  which  carried 
Him  in  triumph  through  the  contest  over  Satan  when  he 
buffeted  Him  with  his  temptations ; and  a strength  far 
greater  than  we  know  of  in  that  mysterious  struggle 
which  He  held  with  the  powers  of  darkness,  when  Satan 
fell  like  lightning  from  heaven,  and  the  Captain  of  our 
salvation  spoiled  principalities  and  powers,  and  made  a 
show  of  them  openly,  and  triumphed  over  them.  There 
was  a strength  in  overcoming  all  the  mighty  difficulties 
which  lay  in  the  way  between  the  sinner  and  God,  in  un- 
barring the  gates  of  acceptance  to  a guilty  world,  in  bring- 
ing truth  and  mercy  to  meet,  and  righteousness  and  peace 
to  enter  into  fellowship — so  that  God  might  be  just,  while 
He  is  the  justifier  of  him  who  believeth  in  Jesus. 

So  much  for  the  strength  which  is  put  forth  in  the  work 
of  man’s  redemption.  But  there  is  also  a strength  put 
forth  in  the  work  of  man’s  regeneration.  Christ  hath  not 
only  done  a great  work  for  us  in  making  good  our  recon- 
ciliation with  God — He  further  does  a great  work  in  us 


JttY  O IN  GOD. 


469 


when  He  makes  us  like  unto  God.  But  I have  not  time 
to  dwell  upon  this  last  topic,  and  must  content  myself  with 
referring  you  to  the  following  Scriptures — Eph.  i.  19;  ii. 
10;  Phil.  iv.  13;  2 Cor.  xii.  9,  10;  John  xv.  5.  The  powei 
which  raised  Jesus  from  the  dead  is  the  power  which  raises 
us  from  our  death  in  trespasses  and  sins.  The  power  that 
was  put  forth  on  creation  is  the  power  that  makes  us  new 
creatures  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

Neither  have  I time  to  make  out  a full  demonstration  of 
what  is  meant  by  laying  hold  of  that  strength.  When  you 
apply  to  a friend  for  some  service,  some  relief  from  distress 
or  difficulty,  you  may  be  said  to  lay  hold  of  him;  and  when 
you  place  firm  reliance  both  on  his  ability  and  willingness 
to  do  the  service,  you  may  well  say  that  your  hold  is  upon 
your  friend — an  expression  which  becomes  all  the  more 
appropriate  should  he  promise  to  do  the  needful  good  office, 
in  which  case  your  hold  is  not  upon  his  power  only,  but 
upon  his  faithfulness.  And  it  is  even  so  with  the  promises 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus — you  have  both  a power  and  a 
promise  to  take  hold  of.  If  you  believe  that  Christ  is  able  to 
save  to  the  uttermost  all  who  come  unto  God  through  Him, 
and  if  you  believe  the  honesty  of  His  invitation  to  all  who 
are  weary  and  heavy-laden,  that  they  might  come  unto 
Him  and  have  rest  unto  their  souls,  thus  judging  Him  to 
be  faithful  who  has  promised,  then  indeed  will  you  lay  hold 
of  Christ  as  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  faith  which  has  thus  led  you  to  fix  upon  the 
Saviour  so  will  it  be  done  unto  you.  To  continue  in  this 
faith  is  in  the  language  of  Scripture  to  hold  fast  your  con- 
fidence and  the  rejoicing  of  your  hope  firm  unto  the  end. 
Cast  not  away  this  confidence  which  hath  great  recom- 
pense of  reward ; or  if  you  have  not  yet  begun  to  place 
this  confidence  in  the  assurances  of  the  gospel,  lay  hold  of 
them  now — they  are  addressed  to  each  and  to  all  of  you. 
It  is  not  a vague  generality  of  which  I am  speaking.  Let 
every  man  amongst  you  take  up  with  Christ,  and  trust  in 
Him  for  yourself. 

I am  well  aware  that  unless  the  Spirit  reveal  to  you,  all 


470 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


I have  said  a.bout  Him  will  fall  fruitless  upon  your  ears, 
and  your  hearts  will  remain  as  cold  and  as  heavy  and  as 
alienated  as  ever.  Faith  is  His  gift,  and  it  is  not  of  our- 
selves. But  the  minister  is  at  his  post  when  he  puts  the 
truth  before  you ; and  you  are  at  your  posts  when  you 
hearken  diligently,  and  have  a prayerful  spirit  of  depend- 
ence on  the  Giver  of  all  wisdom — that  He  will  bless  the 
word  spoken,  and  make  it  reach  your  souls  in  the  form  of 
a salutary  and  convincing  application.  And  it  is  indeed 
wonderful — it  is  passing  wonderful,  that  there  should  be 
about  us  such  an  ungenerous  suspicion  of  our  Father  who  is 
in  heaven.  It  cannot  be  sufficiently  wondered  at  that  all 
the  ways  in  which  He  sets  Himself  forth  to  us  should  have 
so  feeble  an  influence  in  the  way  of  cheering  us  on  to  a 
more  delighted  confidence.  How  shall  we  account  for  it — 
that  the  barrier  of  unbelief  should  stand  so  obstinately  firm 
in  spite  of  every  attempt  and  every  remonstrance — that 
the  straitening  should  still  continue — not  the  straitening  of 
God  towards  us,  for  He  has  said  everything  to  woo  us  to 
put  our  trust  in  Him — but  the  straitening  of  us  towards 
God,  whereby  in  the  face  of  His  every  kind  and  exhilarat- 
ing declaration  we  persist  in  being  cold  and  distant  and 
afraid  of  Him. 

I know  not,  my  brethren,  in  how  far  I may  have  suc- 
ceeded, as  an  humble  and  unworthy  instrument,  in  draw- 
ing aside  the  vail  which  darkens  the  face  of  Him  who 
sitteth  on  the  throne.  But  oh,  how  imposing  is  the  attitude, 
and  how  altogether  affecting  is  the  argument  with  which 
He  comes  forward  to  us  in  the  text  of  this  day ! It  is  not 
so  much  His  saying  that  there  is  no  fury  in  Him — this  He 
often  tells  us  in  other  passages  of  Scripture ; but  the  strik- 
ing peculiarity  of  the  words  now  submitted  to  us  is  the 
way  in  which  He  would  convince  us  how  little  interest  He 
can  have  in  our  destruction,  and  how  far  it  is  from  His 
thoughts  to  aspire  after  the  glory  of  such  an  achievement, 
as  if  He  had  said — it  would  be  nothing  to  me  to  consume 
you  all  by  the  breath  of  my  indignation — it  would  throw 
no  illustration  over  me  to  sweep  away  the  whole  strength 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


471 


of  that  rebellion  which  you  have  mustered  up  against  me — 
it  would  make  no  more  to  my  glory  than  if  I went  through 
the  thorns  and  briers  and  burned  them  before  me.  This  is 
not  the  battle  I want  to  engage  in — this  is  not  the  victory 
by  which  I seek  to  signalize  myself;  and  you  mistake  me — 
you  mistake  me,  ye  feeble  children  of  men,  if  you  think  that 
I aspire  after  anything  else  with  any  one  of  you  than  that 
you  should  be  prevailed  on  to  come  into  my  vineyard,  and 
lay  hold  of  my  strength,  and  seek  to  make  peace  with  me, 
and  you  shall  make  peace  with  me.  The  victory  that  my 
heart  is  set  upon  is  not  a victory  over  your  persons — that 
is  a victory  that  will  easily  be  gotten  in  the  great  day  of 
final  reckoning  over  all  who  have  refused  my  overtures, 
and  would  none  of  my  reproof,  and  have  turned  them  away 
from  my  beseeching  offers  of  reconciliation.  In  that  great 
day  of  the  power  of  mine  ajiger  it  will  be  seen  how  easy  it 
is  to  accomplish  such  a victory  as  this — how  rapidly  the 
fire  of  my  conflagration  will  involve  the  rebels  who  have 
opposed  me  in  that  devouring  flame  from  which  they  never, 
never  can  be  extricated — how  speedily  the  execution  of 
the  condemning  sentence  will  run  through  the  multitude 
who  stand  at  the  left  hand  of  the  avenging  judge ; and  rest 
assured,  ye  men  who  are  now  hearing  me,  and  whom  I 
freely  invite  all  to  enter  into  the  vineyard  of  God,  that  this 
is  not  the  triumph  that  God  is  longing  after.  It  is  not  a 
victory  over  your  persons  then  of  which  He  is  at  all  am- 
bitious— it  is  a victory  over  your  wills  now — it  is  that  you 
do  honor  to  His  testimony  by  placing  your  reliance  on  it — 
it  is  that  you  accept  of  His  kind  and  free  assurances  that 
He  has  no  ill-will  to  you — it  is  that  you  cast  the  whole 
burden  of  sullen  fear  and  suspicion  away  from  your  hearts, 
and  that  now,  even  now,  you  enter  into  a fellowship  of 
peace  with  the  God  whom  you  have  offended.  Oh ! be 
prevailed  upon.  I know  that  terror  will  not  subdue  you ; 
I know  that  all  the  threatenings  of  the  law  will  not  reclaim 
you;  I know  that  no  direct  process  of  pressing  home  the 
claims  of  God  upon  your  obedience  will  ever  compel  you 
to  the  only  obedience  that  is  of  any  value  in  His  estimation 


472 


FURY  NOT  IN  GOD. 


— even  the  willing  obedience  of  the  affections  to  a father 
whom  you  love.  But  surely  when  He  puts  on  in  your 
sight  the  countenance  of  a Father — when  He  speaks  to 
you  with  the  tenderness  of  a Father — when  He  tries  to 
woo  you  back  to  that  house  of  His  from  which  you  have 
wandered,  and  to  persuade  you  of  His  good-will,  descends 
so  far  as  to  reason  the  matter,  and  to  tell  you  that  He  is  no 
more  seeking  any  glory  from  your  destruction  than  He 
would  seek  glory  from  lighting  into  a blaze  the  thorns  and 
the  briers,  and  burning  them  together — ah  ! my  brethren, 
should  it  not  look  plain  to  the  eye  of  faith  how  honest  and 
sincere  the  God  of  your  redemption  is,  who  is  thus  bowing 
Himself  down  to  the  mention  of  such  an  argument!  Do 
lay  hold  of  it,  and  be  impressed  by  it,  and  cherish  no  longer 
any  doubt  of  the  good-will  of  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and 
gracious ; and  let  your  faith  work  by  love  to  Him  who 
hath  done  so  much  and  said  so  much  to  engage  it,  and  let 
this  love  evince  all  the  power  of  a commanding  principle 
within  you,  by  urging  your  every  footstep  to  the  new  obe- 
dience of  new  creatures  in  Jesus  Christ  your  Lord. 

Thus  the  twofold  benefit  of  the  gospel  will  be  realized 
by  all  who  believe  and  obey  that  gospel.  Reconciled  to 
God  by  the  death  of  His  Son,  regenerated  by  the  power 
of  that  mighty  and  all-subduing  Spirit  who  is  at  the  giving 
of  the  Son,  your  salvation  will  be  complete — washed,  and 
sanctified,  and  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
by  the  Spirit  of  our  God. 


SERMON  XIII. 


[Dr.  Duff  was  a favorite  student  of  Dr.  Chalmers  at  St.  Andrews.  On 
ais  nomination  as  the  first  missionary  sent  by  the  Established  Church  of 
Scotland  to  India,  Dr.  Chalmers  was  appointed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Edin- 
burgh to  preach  and  preside  at  the  ordination  on  the  12th  of  August  1829, 
in  St.  George’s  Church.  Dr.  Duff  revisited  Scotland  in  1835,  and  having 
recruited  his  health,  and  kindled  over  all  the  country  a new  zeal  for  the 
missionary  cause,  he  returned  to  Calcutta  in  1839.  The  following  dis- 
course was  delivered  in  St.  George’s  Church  on  the  10th  of  October  in  that 
year.] 


PSALM  XLVIII.  8. 

“ As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we  seen  in  the  city  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  the  city  of  our 
God : God  will  establish  it  for  ever.” 

When  a matter  is  only  heard  by  us  we  may  or  may  not 
believe,  according  to  our  impression  of  the  testimony  ; but 
when  seen  as  well  as  heard,  all  unbelief  is  at  an  end.  In 
another  passage  of  the  Psalms  we  read — “ glorious  things 
are  said  of  thee,  O Zion.”  At  this  stage  these  things  may 
still  be  the  objects  of  distrust,  or  at  best  of  a dim  and  dubi- 
ous faith.  But  when  what  is  said  to  us  is  also  seen  by  us, 
unbelief  can  no  longer  stand  its  ground  against  such  a veri- 
fication. When  it  comes  to  this — “ That  as  we  have  heard, 
so  have  we  seen  in  the  city  of  our  God,” — when,  in  the 
language  of  Job,  we  might  say  thereof,  “ I have  heard  of 
Thee  with  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth 
Thee,”  all  incredulity  or  doubt  must  give  way  before  such 
a manifestation,  and  what  before  was  doubted  or  even  dis- 
believed may  thus  become  a thing  of  fixed  and  absolute 
certainty. 

Now  what  was  true  of  the  visible  and  earthly  Jerusalem 
may  still  be  true  of  the  heavenly.  In  regard  to  the  latter 
the  same  progress,  though  not  by  the  very  same  steps  from 
darkness  to  light,  from  doubt  to  certainty,  may  be  traveled 


474 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


under  our  Christian  economy,  that  was  frequently  experi- 
enced in  regard  to  the  former  under  the  Jewish  economy. 
The  heavenly  and  enduring  realities  wherewith  we  have 
to  do  are  first  heard  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear  in  the  word 
of  the  gospel,  and  may  afterward  be  seen,  if  not  with  the 
eye  of  the  senses  at  least  with  the  eye  of  the  understanding, 
when  that  gospel  is  made  to  come  to  us  not  in  word  only 
but  in  power.  When  we  thus  liken  the  mental  to  the 
ocular  demonstration,  we  may  be  charged  with  speaking 
figuratively,  or  as  some  may  think  mystically ; but  we  make 
use  of  no  other  figure  than  that  which  the  psalmist  does 
when  he  prays  the  Father  of  lights  that  he  might  “open 
his  eyes  to  behold  the  wondrous  things  contained  in  the 
law,”  or  than  that  which  the  greatest  of  the  apostles  does 
when  he  prays  in  behalf  of  his  disciples,  that  “ the  eyes  of 
their  understandings  might  be  enlightened.”  Whether  in 
reference  to  the  earthly  Jerusalem,  the  things  of  which 
were  afar  from  the  Hebrews  who  lived  in  the  provinces, 
or  in  reference  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  the  things  of 
which  are  above  us  all  who  are  still  but  pilgrims  and 
sojourners  in  this  world,  in  reference  to  both  there  is  a way 
in  which  they  may  be  advanced  from  things  of  hearsay  to 
things  of  perception.  The^  former,  that  is,  the  Hebrews, 
might  at  any  time  see  the  things  of  their  Jerusalem  in 
journeying  thitherward,  and  viewing  them  with  the  eye 
of  external  observation.  But  even  metaphysicians  as  well 
as  inspired  men  tell  us  of  the  faculty  of  inward  observation. 
Writers  in  science  speak  to  us  of  conscience  and  of  con- 
sciousness, and  writers  in  Scripture  speak  of  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  truth  to  the  conscience — such  a manifestation  as 
is  competent  both  to  the  barbarian  and  the  Greek,  to  the 
wise  and  to  the  unwise ; and  in  virtue  of  which  even  an 
unlettered  peasant  may  be  translated  out  of  darkness  into 
marvelous  light — may  confidently  and  warrantably  say, 
“ I was  once  blind,  but  now  I see.” 

It  is  now  a little  more  than  ten  years  ago,  being  in  Au- 
gust, 1829,  that  in  the  work  of  setting  you  apart  to  the 
office  of  a Christian  missionary,  I expatiated  as  fully  as  I 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


475 


could  within  the  limits  of  a single  address  on  the  nature 
and  evidence  of  this  peculiar  manifestation.  I can  only 
now  state  the  evidence,  but  without  enlarging  on  the  ex- 
planation of  it.  The  Spirit  of  God  must  interpose  ere  an 
effectual  cognizance  can  be  taken  of  it  by  men.  He  in  the 
first  instance  can  remove  the  vail  from  the  heart,  and  make 
the  consciousness  of  him  on  whom  he  operates  more  alive 
than  any  light  of  nature  can,  to  the  sinfulness  and  defects 
and  the  wretched  infirmities  of  his  own  character.  He  in 
the  second  instance  can  remove  the  vail  from  Scripture, 
and  make  the  conscience  of  him  on  whom  he  operates 
more  alive  than  any  light  of  nature  can,  to  the  dread  au- 
thority of  the  law,  to  the  sacredness  and  majesty  of  the 
great  Lawgiver.  When  such  materials  as  these  are  thus 
brought  within  his  reach,  the  sense  of  guilt  and  of  danger 
which  is  thereby  awakened  not  only  begets  the  desire  of 
relief,  but  prompts  the  inquiries  and  the  aspirations  of 
moral  earnestness ; and  the  same  Spirit  who  by  the  light 
which  He  casts  on  the  tablet  of  the  human  character,  led 
him  to  behold  the  virulence  of  that  moral  disease  under 
which  he  labors,  also  by  the  light  which  He  casts  on  the 
tablet  of  the  outward  revelation,  leads  him  to  behold  the 
sufficient  and  altogether  suitable  remedy  provided  for  it  in 
the  gospel.  It  is  this  adaptation  of  the  objective  Bible  to 
the  fears  and  the  disorders  and  the  felt  wants  of  the  sub- 
jective human  nature  which  leads  the  converts  of  the  pres- 
ent day  to  conclude  from  the  writings,  what  the  converts 
of  the  first  age  concluded  from  the  words  of  the  apostle — 
“ These  men  tell  us  all  that  is  in  our  hearts,  and  verily  God 
is  in  them  of  a truth.”  It  is  not  less  a matter  of  rational 
evidence  that  the  heavenly  Physician  had  to  operate  on 
the  mind  and  enable  it  to  see  the  before  hidden  things  of 
its  own  state  and  the  things  of  Scripture,  than  it  is  a matter 
of  ocular  evidence  to  the  man  who  has  been  relieved  of  a 
cataract  that  the  earthly  physician  had  to  operate  on  his  body 
and  enable  him  to  see  the  things  of  external  nature.  There  is 
no  more  of  fancy  or  fanaticism  in  the  one  case  than  the  other. 
The  argument  is  the  same  in  kind,  though  far  more  intense  in 


476 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


/ the  feeling  of  it,  with  that  argument  in  natural  theology  which 
serves  to  establish  that  the  world  of  nature  came  from  the 
hand  of  a God  because  of  its  numerous  subserviencies  to  the 
physical  wants  of  man.  In  like  manner  do  we  reason  that 
the  word  of  Scripture  has  come  to  us  from  the  hands  of 
God,  because  of  its  no  less  striking  adaptations  and  subser- 
viencies to  the  properties  and  wants,  and  so  to  the  wellbeing 
of  man’s  moral  constitution.  It  affects  not  the  character 
of  the  argument  while  it  adds  prodigiously  to  its  impres- 
sion and  its  strength,  that  our  first  sight  of  its  promises  is 
given  us  in  answer  to  prayer  or  by  the  operation  of  the 
Spirit  from  above.  In  the  face  of  contempt  and  obloquy 
do  we  affirm  of  this  argument,  this  manifestation  of  the 
truth  to  the  conscience,  and  in  virtue  of  which  the  gospel  is 
ushered  into  the  heart  of  man  with  power,  and  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  much  assurance,  that  derided  as  it 
may  have  been  in  the  halls  of  literature,  where  plebeian 
Christianity  if  noticed  at  all  is  spoken  of  in  contumely  and 
scorn,  the  argument  is  both  as  firm  in  its  basis,  and  as  logi- 
cal in  the  whole  of  its  structure  and  effect,  as  any  reason- 
ing in  moral  or  mental  science  propounded  from  the  chair 
of  philosophy  in  all  the  forms  and  with  all  the  confidence 
of  academic  demonstration. 

It  must  be  on  some  such  evidence  that  the  philosophy  of 
missions  is  based.  We  send  forth  the  heralds  of  salvation, 
but  we  can  not  invest  them  with  the  power  of  working 
miracles  as  the  badge  of  their  apostleship.  Whatever  the 
persuasive  influences  may  be  which  they  carry  along 
with  them,  it  must  be  in  the  words  which  they  utter  and 
not  in  the  works  which  they  perform.  The  credentials 
bf  their  message  must  be  somehow  bound  up  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  message  itself,  for  we  can  not  now  say,  as  did 
the  first  teachers  of  Christianity,  Verily,  the  signs  of  an 
embassy  from  heaven  have  been  wrought  amongst  you  in 
signs  and  wonders  and  mighty  deeds ; but  in  the  absence 
of  these  accompaniments,  external  to  the  message,  and 
which  they  could  appeal  to  in  other  days  as  vouchers  for 
its  ci edibility,  there  may  still  be  tne  same  credibility  in  the 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


477 


very  things  of  the  message  itself,  which  from  the  beginning 
has  been  applied  to  them.  By  one  faculty  they  might  hear 
the  message,  and  by  another  faculty,  as  that  of  seeing,  they 
can  be  made  to  perceive  the  truth  of  its  subject-matter, 
and  to  say — As  we  heard,  so  have  we  seen — then  may  it 
be  understood  how,  without  a sensible  miracle,  there  may 
arise  in  the  mind  a well-founded  belief  in  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity. Now  this  is  precisely  what  happens  in  the  great 
majority,  we  should  rather’ say  in  all  the  instances  of  con- 
version, whether  in  or  out  of  Christendom.  What  is  re- 
ceived by  one  faculty,  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  is  recog- 
nized by  another,  not  by  the  seeing  with  the  eye  of  the 
outer,  but  by  the  seeing  with  the  eye  of  the  inner  man. 
After  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  made  palpable  to  the  ex- 
ercised conscience  of  the  inquirer  the  disease  of  humanity, 
and  has  made  alike  palpable  the  adaptations  profoundly 
skillful  and  pregnant  with  the  most  satisfactory  evidence 
of  that  counterpart  remedy  which  is  provided  for  it  in  the 
gospel — it  is  thus  that  without  miracle,  with  no  other  ope- 
ration than  that  of  preaching  the  word  and  praying  for  the 
Spirit  to  give  it  efficacy,  and  by  no  other  apparatus  than 
the  simple  apparatus  of  the  Bible  and  the  conscience,  may 
a light  b*e  struck  out  between  them,  by  which  things  hidden 
from  the  wise  and  the  prudent  are  revealed  to  the  veriest 
babes  in  literature.  It  is  this  which  makes  the  evidence 
of  Christianity  so  accessible  to  every  member  of  the  human 
family — so  portable,  if  I may  use  the  expression,  to  every 
quarter  of  the  globe.  Thus  one  and  the  same  message 
from  heaven  might  well  find  the  same  acceptance  every- 
where, and  that  because  of  the  identity  of  human  nature 
all  the  world  over.  It  is  thus  that  the  word  of  God  can 
open  for  itself  an  avenue  to  the  inner  recesses  of  every  soul — 
and  discerner  as  it  is  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart, 
can  work  a deeply  seated  conviction  there  of  its  own  truth, 
and  its  own  authority.  It  is  the  key  which  unlocks  every  bo- 
som, and  by  its  universal  adaptation  to  the  universal  state  and 
character  of  humanity,  it  is  fitted  to  establish  its  own  moral 
supremacy  in  every  territory  where  men  are  to  be  found.  The 


478 


ADDRESS  OF  DR.  DUFF. 


children  of  this  world  may  denounce  and  may  deride  as  mys 
tical  that  light  which  is  to  lighten  all  nations,  that  evidence 
which  is  to  Christianize  all  people.  But,  blessed  be  God, 
that  self-evidencing  power  of  the  truth,  which  is  the  laugh- 
ing stock  of  many  adversaries,  is  more  and  more  a thing 
now  of  experimental  verification.  Without  it  we  should 
be  powerless  abroad,  and  there  would  be  fanaticism  and 
folly  in  the  enterprise  of  missionaries ; but  without  it  we 
should  be  alike  powerless  and  inefficient  at  home,  and  there 
would  be  the  very  same  fanaticism  and  folly  in  the  ordinary 
ministrations  of  our  own  clergymen,  the  Sabbath  services 
of  our  own  land.  And  therefore,  blessed  be  God,  that  we 
can  now  lift  our  appeal  to  the  facts  and  findings  of  every- 
day experience.  In  the  name  of  those  daily  conversions 
which  are  now  taking  place  in  the  wilds  of  Paganism — in 
the  name  of  those  glorious  revivals  which  are  now  taking 
place  within  the  limits  of  our  own  Church  and  country,  do  we 
affirm  the  equal  significancy  and  equal  power  of  manifesta- 
tion in  both,  so  that  when  speaking  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
the  efficacy  of  his  demonstration  on  the  consciences  of  men, 
we  only  speak  the  things  of  actual  and  historical  fulfillment, 
we  are  but  speaking  the  words  of  truth  and  of  soberness. 

To  be  fully  accomplished  for  the  work  of  a missionary 
one  would  need  to  conjoin  two  things  which  are  often  to 
be  found  in  a state  of  separation  from  each  other,  and  not 
so  often  realized  together  in  the  character  and  person  of 
one  and  the  same  individual.  The  first  is  that  wisdom 
which  in  the  regulation  of  all  its  proceedings  bears  a respect 
to  the  general  laws  of  nature  and  lessons  of  experience;  the 
second  is  that  piety  which  looks  for  the  success  of  its  pro- 
ceedings only  to  the  special  blessing  of  God.  In  virtue  of 
the  former  our  accomplished  missionary  will  be  as  strenuous 
in  the  forthputting  and  exercise  of  his  own  powers  as  if  man 
did  all — in  virtue  of  the  latter  he  will  be  as  distrustful  of 
self,  and  as  humbly  depending  on  the  power  that  is  above, 
as  if  God  did  all.  It  is  because  of  the  former  that  he  works, 
and  it  is  because  of  the  latter  that  he  prays — a truly  blessed 
fellowship,  to  which,  in  the  history  of  Christianization  by 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


479 


human  agency,  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  indebted  for 
all  its  triumphs,  from  the  days  of  Paul,  who  strove  mightily 
according  to  the  grace  of  God  that  worked  in  him  mightily, 
to  the  days  of  a more  recent  apostleship,  beginning  with 
the  missionary  Eliot,  who,  as  the  fruit  of  his  lengthened  and 
laborious  experience  among  the  Indians  of  North  America, 
left  behind  this  most  precious  of  recorded  sayings — That 
through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  it  was  in  the  power  of  pains 
and  of  prayer  to  do  any  thing. 

Every  view  which  can  be  taken  of  the  office  to  which 
ten  years  ago  you  were  set  apart  in  this  place  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  points  to  the  same  conclusion. 
Among  others,  the  text  to  which  we  have  referred,  and  on 
which  we  have  founded  the  peculiar  argument  of  this  day, 
affords  a very  clear  and  palpable  illustration  of  it.  The 
message  of  the  gospel  must  first  be  received  by  the  hearing 
of  the  bodily  ear,  for  “how  shall  they  believe  in  Him  of 
whom  they  have  not  heard  ?”  And  this  message  of  the 
gospel  must,  secondly,  be  recognized  as  true  by  the  seeing 
of  the  mental  eye — by  that  faith  which  is  not  of  ourselves, 
but  is  the  gift  of  God.  For  the  fulfillment  of  the  first  of 
these  objects  you  have  put  forth  an  industry,  and  let  me 
add,  a sagacity,  both  alike  evincing  the  important  share 
which  the  natural  faculties  of  man  have  in  the  business  of 
a missionary.  By  a device  of  admirable  skillfulness  and 
correspondent  success,  you  have  brought  many  of  the  most 
influential  families  of  Hindostan  within  reach  of  the  hearing 
of  the  word  of  God.  You  have  instituted  a school  mainly 
of  scriptural  lessons  and  scriptural  exercises.  You  have 
practiced  no  deceit  upon  the  natives,  for  all  is  above  boards, 
and  it  is  universally  known  that  the  volume  which  forms 
the  great  text  and  substratum  of  your  scholarship,  is  the 
book  of  the  religion  of  the  Christians.  But  you,  at  the 
same  time,  have  studied  to  multiply  the  attractions  of  this 
school  — you  have  not  only  instituted  a lectureship  on  the 
evidences  of  Christianity,  but,  for  the  purpose  of  engaging 
the  attendance  chiefly  of  the  higher  classes,  you  have  pressed 
into  the  service  both  the  physical  and  the  mathematical 


480 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


sciences,  and  what  might  startle  some,  have  superadded 
the  doctrines  of  political  economy — and  all  that  the  votaries 
of  science  might  be  lured  within  the  precincts  of  sacredness. 
It  is  thus  that  the  youth  of  India  of  all  ranks,  and  especially 
of  the  upper  orders  of  society,  have  passed  through  your 
seminary  in  successive  hundreds,  familiarized  with  the  lan- 
guage and  seasoned  with  the  subject-matter  of  inspiration. 
It  is  thus  that  many  have  heard  with  the  hearing  of  the  ear, 
and  at  least  been  disarmed  of  all  hostility  to  the  gospel, 
and  some  of  these  many  have  been  made  to  see,  and  been 
converted,  and  become  the  declared  friends  and  champions 
of  our  faith.  It  delights  me,  sir,  to  know,  as  the  fruit  of 
my  intimate  converse  and  of  my  acquaintance  with  your 
principles  and  your  thoughts,  that  while  you  have  done  so 
much  to  obtain  an  extensive  hearing  for  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  most  likely  and  promising  quarters  of  human 
society,  you  are  at  the  same  time  fully  and  feelingly  aware 
what  that  high  and  external  quarter  is  whence  alone  the 
seeing  comes,  and  that  unless  a blessing,  to  be  evoked  only 
by  prayer,  shall  descend  from  the  sanctuary  above  upon 
your  enterprise,  all  the  labor  you  have  bestowed  upon  it 
will  prove  but  a vain  and  empty  parade.  Let  me  earnestly 
recommend  the  continuance  of  this  sacred  and  fruitful 
union  — a union  between  the  diligence  of  ever- working 
hands  and  the  devotion  of  ever-praying  hearts.  Men  of 
various  moods  and  temperaments  and  different  states  of 
spirituality  and  intellect,  will  be  variously  affected  by  the 
spectacle.  Those  of  shrewd,  but  withal  of  secular  intelli- 
gence, will  think  lightly  of  your  supplications,  perhaps  even 
speak  contemptuously  of  those  outpourings  of  the  Spirit  on 
which,  I trust,  you  will  ever  wait  and  ever  watch  with 
humble  expectancy.  Those  of  serious,  but  withal  of  weak 
and  driveling  piety,  will  think  lightly  of  your  science,  and 
perhaps  even  speak  with  rebuke  of  your  geometry,  and  your 
economics,  and  your  other  themes  of  strange  and  philosophic 
nomenclature,  as  things  that  have  in  them  a certain  cast 
of  heathenish  innovation,  prejudicial  to  the  success,  because 
incongruous  with  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel.  But  amid 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


481 


these  reproaches  on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  persevere  as 
you  have  begun;  and  whether,  on  the  one  hand,  they  be 
the  cold  rationalists  who  assail  you  with  their  contempt, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  they  be  the  fanatical  religionists  who 
look  on  you  with  intolerance,  continue  to  do  what  all  men 
of  sense  and  of  sacredness  have  done  before,  and  you  will 
at  length  reap  the  fulfillment  of  the  saying — that  wisdom  is 
justified  of  her  children. 

Before  coming  to  a close,  I cannot  but  advert  to  that 
special  Providence  which  has  withdrawn  you  for  a season 
from  the  immediate  field  of  your  missionary  labors.  What 
threatened  to  be  a disaster  has  turned  out  a signal  blessing 
to  this  Scheme  of  the  General  Assembly.  It  has  given  ten- 
fold impulse  to  the  cause ; nor  do  I need  to  expatiate  at  all 
on  the  palpable  fact,  that  by  your  presence  and  your  exer- 
tions at  home,  you  have  enhanced,  and  fully  in  this  propor- 
tion, the  interest  felt  throughout  Scotland  in  the  Christian- 
ity of  India.  But  over  and  above  this  special  benefit,  there 
is  another  of  a still  more'  comprehensive  character,  conferred 
by  your  means  upon  the  Church,  and  which  if  rightly  fol- 
lowed up,  will  tell  most  prosperously  and  productively  in 
the  advancement  of  all  its  Schemes — I allude  to  the  advo- 
cacy you  have  made  of  your  objects  and  views,  and  that 
not  an  advocacy  confined  to  a particular  spot  whither  all 
who  chose  might  repair  and  listen  to  you,  but  an  advocacy 
carried  by  your  own  personal  locomotion  from  one  part 
of  the  country  to  another,  so  that  instead  of  waiting  till  the 
public  should  by  a spontaneous  act  shake  off  its  own  apathy, 
you  with  greater  wisdom,  and  far  greater  effect,  went  ag- 
gressively forth  in  making  assault  upon  a public  awakened 
by  the  urgency  of  your  appeals  out  of  the  slumber  of  its 
before  deep  and  hopeless  indifference.  This  is  the  only 
way  to  originate  an  interest  not  yet  felt,  and  the  best  w7ay 
by  which  to  perpetuate  and  vastly  to  extend  it.  You  were 
the  first,  I believe,  to  set  the  example  of  thus  passing  from 
parish  to  parish,  and  from  presbytery  to  presbytery,  in  be* 
half  of  your  own  cause,  and  it  only  needs  to  be  so  carried 
forward  in  behalf  of  other  causes,  as  to  fill  the  whole  length 
VOL.  vi. — X 


482 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


and  breadth  of  the  land,  in  order  to  reap  a tenfold  more 
abundant  harvest  from  the  liberalities  of  the  people  than 
has  ever  yet  been  realized,  and  to  make  the  beloved  Church 
of  our  fathers  the  most  efficient  organ  of  Christian  bene- 
ficence which  the  world  ever  saw. 

Allow  me,  sir,  to  say,  as  being  specially  connected  with 
another  great  Scheme  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,*  that  we 
are  both  alike  free  of  those  jealousies  which  are  sometimes 
felt  between  one  philanthropic  society  and  another.  They 
proceed,  it  appears  to  me,  on  a false  arithmetic,  or  rather 
on  a misapprehension,  in  virtue  of  which  it  is  that  the  na- 
tural and  what  may  be  called  the  moral  arithmetic,  are 
confounded  with  each  other.  It  is  by  the  natural  that  you 
estimate  the  means — it  is  by  the  moral  that  you  estimate 
the  motives ; and  it  is  quite  a possible  thing  that  the  pro- 
cess by  which  the  means  of  benevolence  are  somewhat 
abridged,  may  be  the  very  process  by  which  a tenfold  force 
is  given  to  the  motives  of  benevolence.  Nothing  more 
palpably  true  than  that  the  guinea  which  has  been  parted 
with  for  some  object  of  foreign  charity,  is  no  longer  in  reserve 
for  an  object  of  home  charity.  But  the  same  application 
which  drew  the  guinea  from  the  hand,  sent  an  impulse  to 
the  heart,  insomuch  that  he  who  has  been  so  operated  upon 
is  a more  hopeful  subject  for  a fresh  application  than  the 
man  whose  purse  has  never  yet  been  opened — and  just 
because  his  sensibilities  have  never  yet  been  addressed  in 
the  cause  of  liberality.  It  is  true,  in  fact,  that  our  two 
causes,  our  two  committees,  might  work  into  each  other’s 
hands.  Should  the  first  take  the  precedency,  and  traverse 
for  collections  the  whole  of  Scotland,  the  second  would 
only  find  the  ground  more  softened  and  prepared  for  an 
abundant  produce  to  itself.  It  acts  not  by  exhaustion — it 
acts  by  fermentation.  It  is  preposterous  to  speak  of  ex- 
haustion. Who  exhausts  himself? — who  carries  his  chari- 
ties so  far  as  to  abridge  by  them  the  general  habit  of  his 
expenditure?  — who  does  more  than  cast  into  the  treasury 
some  unmissed  fraction  of  that  fund  which  is  familiarly 
* The  Church  Extension  Scheme. 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


483 


known  by  the  name  of  pocket-money  ? — who,  after  such  a 
surrender,  does  not  feel  himself  to  all  sense  as  entire  as 
before  for  a new  application,  and  only  the  more  inured  by 
it  to  the  self-denial  and  the  sacrifices  of  charity.  Let  there 
be  two  towns  of  equal  wealth  and  population,  the  first  of 
which  has  never  been  addressed  in  behalf  of  any  philan- 
thropic object,  and  the  second  of  which  is  plied  every  fort- 
night for  one  or  other  of  those  numerous  societies  that  are 
now  in  operation — to  which  of  them  would  the  patrons  of 
some  new  enterprise  repair  with  the  greatest  hope  of  suc- 
cess ? All  experience  replies  to  the  latter  of  them.  They 
are  mainly,  in  fact,  the  same  names  which  recur  and  are 
prominent  in  all  the  most  distinguished  charities  of  our  land. 
By  each  distinct  contribution  the  fund  of  charity  is  doubt- 
less somewhat  impaired;  but  all  the  feelings  of  charity — a 
willingness  to  distribute — a readiness  to  communicate — 
these  are  enhanced  by  the  exercise ; and  We  are  yet  very 
far  from  the  maximum  to  which,  under  the  operation  of 
these  various  elements,  the  liberalities  of  our  population 
might  be  carried.  With  the  slight  encroachment  that  is 
made  by  one  society  on  the  materiel  of  benevolence,  there 
is  a quickening  and  an  excitement  given  to  the  morale  of  it 
— and  the  other  societies  just  speed  in  proportion  the  more 
that  they  follow  in  the  direction  of  that  predecessor  which 
has  opened  a way  for  them.  We  are  not  counting  on  the 
powers  of  that  alchemy  which  transmutes  everything  into 
gold — ours  is  a higher  and  nobler  alchemy — the  alchemy 
of  the  heart — in  virtue  of  which  the  charity  which  in  be- 
half of  some  one  object  is  kindled  there,  expands  at  length 
from  one  object  to  another,  till  it  has  learned  to  cast  a wide 
'And  a wakeful  eye  over  all  the  sufferings  and  all  the  neces- 
sities of  our  species.  They  therefore  who  would  represent 
our  two  committees  as  of  adverse  influence  and  operation 
upon  each  other,  have  never  attended  either  to  the  facts  or 
to  the  philosophy  of  the  subject,  and  evince  the  same  gross 
misunderstanding  of  the  true  mechanism  of  our  nature  that 
is  done  by  those  who  would  repress  the  liberality  of  the 
working-classes  in  behalf  of  Bible  or  missionary  objects. 


484 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


lest  it  should  haste  their  descent  to  a lower  level,  and  fill 
the  neighborhood  with  pauperism.  The  fact  is,  that  it 
widens  their  distance  from  pauperism,  and  translates  into  the 
moral  habit  and  elevation  of  generosity  those  who  other- 
wise might  be  degraded  into  that  sloth  or  that  sordidness 
which  turn  so  many  into  receivers.  It  is  on  these  grounds 
that  I would  have  the  two  committees  to  join  hand  in  hand, 
and  to  act  in  perfect  fearlessness  and  perfect  friendship  the 
one  with  the  other.  The  success  of  the  first  will  be  the 
best  security  or  guarantee  for  the  success  of  the  second — they 
will  grow  with  each  other’s  growth — they  will  strengthen 
with  each  other’s  strength. 

But  I ought  to  apologize  for  expatiating  on  this  topic  so 
long,  while  you,  sir,  are  standing. before  me.  It  is  for  the 
purpose  of  expressing  my  hope,  that  under  the  inspiration 
of  that  principle  which  under  God  you  have  done  so  much 
to  awaken,  both  the  prayers  and  the  liberalities  of  this  your 
native  land  will  follow  you  where  you  are  going.  I con- 
fidently feel  that  I am  but  the  organ  for  the  expressing  of 
the  collective  and  unanimous  mind  of  this  congregation, 
when  I say  that  their  prayers  and  their  wishes  go  along 
with  you.  In  the  language  of  Paul  to  his  converts,  we 
would  commend  you  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace, 
which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  to  give  you  and  all  your 
spiritual  children  an  inheritance  among  them  which  are 
sanctified.  It  is  not  for  us  to  lift  that  vail  which  over- 
hangs the  secrets  of  futurity,  or  with  prophetic  inspiration 
to  utter  these  worTls  of  the  apostle  for  which  His  disciples 
sorrowed  mgst  of  all — that  we  shall  see  your  face  no  more. 
To  God  alone  is  reserved  the  knowledge  of  the  times  and 
of  the  seasons,  and  to  us  belongs  a solemn  sense  of  the  un- 
certainty of  these  things.  Enough  for  us  that  we  know 
our  present  duty,  and  the  certainty  of  their  future  heaven 
to  every  faithful  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ; yet  without 
presumption,  I trust,  may  we  give  utterance  to  the  impres- 
sion that  is  upon  our  spirits,  of  the  aspect — the  singularly 
prophetic  aspect,  not  merely  of  the  days  in  which  we  live, 
but  both  of  Christendom,  that  region  you  are  about  to  leave, 


ADDRESS  TO  DR.  DUFF. 


485 


and  of  Eastern  Asia,  that  region  of  ancient  idolatry  whither 
you  are  going  ; for  we  can  notice  on  that  distant  horizon  the 
faint  breakings  of  evangelical  light,  which,  like  the  dawn  of 
early  morn,  may  perhaps  increase  more  and  more  till  the 
drying  up  of  the  Euphrates,  that  the  way  of  the  kings  of 
the  East  may  be  prepared.  And  here,  in  strong  and  im- 
mediate manifestation,  do  we  see  the  heavings  of  a general 
and  wayward  restlessness  till  all  the  ancient  kingdoms  of 
authority  have  been  loosened — and  perhaps  through  a mid- 
way passage  of  desolations  and  judgments,  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  are  soon  to  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  But  we  shall  enter  no  further  on 
these  topics  of  yet  unfulfilled  prophecy,  or  attempt  to  grope 
our  way  through  not  a total,  but  a twilight  darkness — a 
darkness  visible  over  the  perspective  which  lies  before  us. 
Duties  are  ours — events  are  God’s ; and  while  we  meddle 
not  with  the  matters  too  high  for  us — with  the  secret  things 
which  belong  to  Him,  let  us  ever  bear  in  mind,  that  one  of 
the  most  clearly  revealed  things  which  belong  to  us  and  to 
our  children,  is  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature  under 
heaven.  God  grant  that  each  of  us  in  his  own  proper  vo- 
cation may  be  found  faithful  in  that  day,  giving  full  proof 
of  his  ministry ; and  whether  in  churches  at  home  or  by 
missionaries  abroad,  may  both  you  and  we  have  grace  to 
acquit  ourselves  as  faithful  laborers  throughout  this  seed- 
time of  the  earth’s  coming  regeneration,  in  the  full  develop- 
ment of  which  it  is  that  the  cross  of  Christ  shall  behold  the 
consummation  of  its  triumphs. 


SERMON  XXXII. 


[“  I had  the  high  satisfaction,”  says  Dr.  Merle  d’Aubigne,  in  his  work  en- 
titled “Germany,  England,  and  Scotland,”  “ of  hearing  Dr.  Chalmers.  You 
know  that  he  was  minister  of  Glasgow,  first  in  the  Tron  Church,  and  after- 
wards in  St.  John’s.  Dr.  Brown,  his  friend  and  successor  in  the  latter  church, 
haying  left  the  Establishment  in  1843,  his  people  built  him  a Free  Church,  in 
which  they  studiously  endeavored  to  give  the  architecture  a certain  style  of 
elegance,  in  order,  no  doubt,  to  show  what  can  be  done  in  our  own  day  by 
the  free  contributions  of  Christians.  The  steeple,  tower,  and  fagade  of  this 
church  make  it  one  of  the  finest  in  Scotland.  I will  not  here  repeat  passages 
of  the  sermon ; I have  already  spoken  of  Chalmers,  and  besides,  some  of  his 
discourses,  translated  into  French  by  Professor  Diodati,  one  of  the  best 
preachers  of  Geneva,  are  known  to  every  body.  But  what  I would  say  is, 
that  it  was  the  last  time  that  Chalmers  preached  in  Glasgow,  where  he  had 
first  begun  to  be  known  to  the  Christian  world.  You  can  imagine  the  desire 
felt  in  that  city  to  hear  him — the  crowds  that  gathered  from  all  quarters ; but 
you  can  have  no  idea  of  the  order  and  the  devotion  of  the  assembly.  The 
collection  on  leaving  the  church  amounted  to  40,000  francs — £1600 — for  the 
morning  service  only.  There  was  another  in  the  afternoon,  and  one  in  the 
evening.”  The  sermon  which  follows  was  the  one  thus  alluded  to — preached 
at  the  opening  of  Free  St.  John’s,  Glasgow,  on  June  8,  1845.  The  whole 
sum  contributed  on  that  occasion  at  the  different  services  amounted  to  £1778, 
14s.  ll$d.] 


The  mightiest  effects  are  ascribed  to  hearing  in  Scripture. 
That  little  organ,  the  human  ear,  is  spoken  of  as  the  duct  or 
pathway  by  which  the  richest  blessings  whereof  humanity 
is  capable  are  conveyed  to  the  soul.  In  one  place  we  read 
of  it  as  the  channel  by  which  faith  enters — “ Faith  cometh 
by  hearing;”  and  it  is  “by  faith  that  we  are  saved.”  In 
another,  that  our  life,  by  which  life  everlasting  is  meant, 
hinges  upon  it — “Hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live.”  And 
again,  in  counterpart  to  this,  we  read  that — “ If  ye  will  not 
hear,  I will  send  a curse  upon  you ; I will  bring  your  house 
to  desolation” — all  marking  that  somehow  or  other,  to  hear, 


MARK  IV.  24. 

“Take  heed  what  ye  hear.” 


LUKE  VIII.  18. 

“ Take  heed  therefore  how  ye  hear.” 


OPENING  OF  FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


487 


and  to  hear  aright,  is  the  channel  and  the  great  stepping- 
stone  to  those  who  now  sit  in  the  shadow  of  death,  and  by 
which  they  are  conducted  to  life  everlasting. 

With  such  representations  as  these  of  the  vast  import- 
ance of  hearing,  one  cannot  but  think,  at  the  opening  of  a 
new  church,  how  big,  how  pregnant  such  an  event  must 
prove  either  for  weal  or  wo  to  hundreds — it  may  be  thou- 
sands— of  un perishable  spirits,  because  standing,  as  it  may, 
for  centuries — nay,  the  site,  perhaps,  of  future  fabrics  to  the 
end  of  the  world.  What  is  to  be  done  here  may  tell  on  the 
everlasting  destiny  not  of  ourselves  only,  but  of  our  chil- 
dren’s children  throughout  many  generations.  We  are 
sometimes  told  of  the  mighty  doings  which  go  on  within 
the  walls  of  an  exchange,  where  the  bargains  that  are 
made  from  week  to  week,  the  commercial  transactions 
which  are  there  settled,  bear  on  the  state  and  fortune  of 
whole  classes  of  society — or  within  the  walls  of  a university, 
where  the  lessons  daily  given  are  deposited  in  the  minds 
of  assembled  youth  who,  in  the  coming  age,  are  to  fill  the 
highest  departments  of  public  usefulness — or  within  the 
walls  of  a court-house,  where  sentences  are  passed  by 
which  character,  and  property,  and  life,  the  dearest  of  all 
earthly  interests,  are  disposed  of — or  within  the  walls  of  a 
parliament,  on  whose  votes  and  decisions  hang  the  fate  of 
nations,  and  those  great  events  which  figure  on  the  arena 
of  this  world’s  large  and  visible  history.  But  to  a man  of 
larger  vision,  who  has  an  eye  and  a comprehension  for 
things  still  larger  than  these,  all  that  we  have  now  spoken 
of  is  eclipsed  and  cast  into  the  shade  by  the  might  and  the 
magnificence  of  those  doings  which  take  place  within  the 
walls  of  a church,  and  which  concern  a far  sublimer  his- 
tory than  that  of  nations,  even  the  history  of  souls  subsist- 
ing in  immortal  vigor  after  all  the  empires  of  earth  shall 
have  fallen ; and  on  the  high  scale  and  reckoning  of  eter- 
nity, the  annals  of  our  entire  species,  from  the  creation  of 
Adam  to  the  day  of  judgment,  shall  appear  like  a tale  that 
is  told,  or  but  a brief  evolution  in  the  progress  of  an  ad- 
ministration that  never  ends.  They  are  words  of  eternal 


438  . 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


life  which  are  spoken  here ; and  on  your  reception  of  these 
words  it  depends  whether  that  life  is  to  be  laid  hold  of,  or 
that  life  of  blessedness  and  glory  is  to  be  for  ever  forfeited. 
They  are  the  seeds  of  an  unfading  vegetation  which  are 
falling  abroad  and  being  scattered  here ; and  it  will  de- 
pend on  the  soil  of  your  own  hearts  whether  they  shall 
germinate  into  the  briers  and  thorns  whose  end  is  to  be 
burned,  or  into  trees  of  righteousness,  to  be  afterwards 
transplanted  into  the  Paradise  of  God.  . But  human  hearts 
are  reached  through  the  medium  of  human  ears ; and  it  is 
on  the  question  of  how  you  hear,  that  there  hinges  the 
mighty  difference  between  a wretched  and  a glorious  eter- 
mty.  God  seeth  not  as  man  seeth,  and  they  estimate 
things  in  heaven  in  another  way  than  we  do  on  earth ; 
and  so  this  fabric,  which  rises  in  such  graceful  elevation 
before  the  sight  of  admiring  passengers,  bears  to  the  spirit- 
ual eye  a far  deeper  interest  in  its  future  history  than  it 
does  to  the  natural  eye  in  its  present  aspect.  By  the  one 
estimate  we  pronounce  on  what  is  manifest  to  all — the 
tastefulness  and  beauty  of  the  edifice  in  which  we  are  now 
assembled ; by  the  other  estimate  we  pronounce  on  things 
of  mightier  import,  though  not  to  be  evolved  till  the  day 
shall  declare  them,  when  the  Lord  writeth  up  the  people, 
and  will  count  of  this  man  and  that  man  that  he  was  born 
there.  The  outgoings  of  this  place  are  to  eternity ; and 
the  angels  above  are  fastening  their  regards  on  it  as  they 
would  on  a nursery  of  immortals,  who  may  yet  company 
with  themselves  in  their  everlasting  habitations.  And  oh, 
it  is  affecting  to  think,  that  within  these  four  corners,  and 
on  this  limited  platform  before  me,  an  operation  may  from 
Sabbath  to  Sabbath  be  going  on  in  human  bosoms,  subtle 
and  unseen,  it  may  be,  but  charged  with  results  of  which 
heaven  and  hell  will  attest  the  magnitude  and  the  endur- 
ance, long  after  this  earth  is  burned  up,  and  these  heavens 
have  passed  away.  The  word  of  the  gospel  sounded  forth 
here  will,  let  us  hope,  be  tp  many  the  savor  of  life  unto  life, 
and  to  some,  we  fear — oh ! that  we  could  warrantably  say,  not 
to  many,  or  to  any — will  it  be  the  savor  of  death  unto  death. 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


489 


But  this  big  alternative  will  at  once  convince  us,  that  it 
is  not  every  sort  of  hearing  that  will  serve  the  purpose — a 
lesson  strongly  and  impressively  set  forth  in  the  parable  of 
the  sower.  It  is  only  by  hearing  in  a certain  way  that  we 
come  to  a saving  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
And  indeed  the  same  holds  of  all  other  sciences  and  all 
other  subjects,  as  well  as  Christianity — in  the  things  of 
human  as  well  as  in  the  things  of  divine  learning — in  the 
lessons  of  natural  knowledge  as  well  as  in  the  lessons  of 
religion.  I should  like  you  to  consider  wherein  it  is  that 
those  two  great  branches  of  mental  acquisition  and  im- 
provement agree,  and  thus  that  you  may  be  all  the  better 
prepared  to  understand  wherein,  also,  it  is  that  they  differ. 
To  master  any  part  of  common  or  literary  education,  you 
must  often  listen  to  the  instructions  of  a teacher ; but  it  is 
not  every  kind  of  hearing  that  will  avail  you — you  must 
hear  with  an  earnest  desire  after  knowledge.  And  so  it  is 
in  religion ; for  we  read  in  the  Bible  that  we  must  give 
earnest  heed  to  the  things  which  we  have  heard,  and  desire 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word.  And  you  must  hear  with 
attention — but  so  also  is  it  in  religion,  for  in  the  Bible  we 
read,  and  that  repeatedly,  that  we  must  attend  to  the  words 
of  instruction.  And  we  must  be  diligent  in  hearing ; but  as 
in  common  scholarship,  so  in  the  scholarship  by  which  we 
become  wise  unto  salvation ; for  we  further  read,  that  if 
we  hearken  diligently  to  the  Lord,  He  will  cause  us  to  be- 
hold that  which  is  good,  and  our  soul  shall  delight  itself  in 
fatness, — all  marking,  therefore,  a similarity  in  the  methods 
by  which  we  come  to  the  understanding  and  knowledge  of 
natural  things,  and  to  that  knowledge  of  God  and  of  Jesus 
Christ  which  is  life  everlasting.  In  both  these  departments, 
then,  the  human  mind  is  put  upon  a like  busy  and  strenuous 
exercise  of  its  faculties — the  faculty  of  earnest  desirousness, 
the  faculty  of  attention,  the  habits  and  the  faculties  of  un- 
wearied industry.  The  pursuits  and  the  processes  by  which  * 
we  arrive  at  a natural  knowledge  of  the  things  which  con- 
cern us  here,  are  in  all  these  respects  at  one  with  the  pursuits 
and  processes  by  which  we  arrive  at  the  spiritual  and  the  sav- 

x* 


490 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


ing  knowledge  of  the  things  which  belong  to  our  everlast- 
ing peace,  or  to  the  good  of  our  eternity.  But  along  with 
this  there  is  one  most  important  respect  in  which  they  dif- 
fer, and  we  feel  an  explanation  of  that  difference  to  be 
necessary  ere  we  can  found  upon  it  our  special  directions 
ror  taking  heed  how  you  hear. 

But  before  explaining  this  difference,  let  me  again  state — 
and  I cannot  do  it  too  clearly  or  too  earnestly — that  though 
something  more  is  necessary  for  the  scholarship  of  Chris- 
tianity than  for  the  scholarship  of  human  learning,  yet  there 
should  be  the  same  busy  application  of  natural  methods  and 
of  the  natural  faculties  when  engaged  with  the  prosecution 
of  both.  Whatever  the  something  may  be  which  is  needed 
for  religious,  and  which  is  not  needed  for  other  and  ordi- 
nary knowledge,  it  is  nothing  which  ought  to  supersede  your 
utmost  desire,  your  utmost  attention,  and  the  utmost  forth- 
putting  of  all  your  intellectual  powers,  whether  of  memory, 
or  of  apprehension,  or  of  rational  inference,  or  of  the  com- 
mon mental  efforts  by  which  you  arrive  at  the  understand- 
ing of  anything  else,  and  which  you  should  just  put  forward 
in  like  manner  when  you  are  laboring  to  understand  the 
doctrine  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. Whatever  more  is  necessary  for  the  right  discern- 
ment of  these,  it  is  not  intended  to  set  aside  the  natural 
powers  of  the  mind,  but,  in  fact,  it  stimulates  and  gives 
effect  to  the  exertion  of  them.  If  you  want  to  become 
wise  in  the  contents  of  the  Bible,  deal  with  it  as  you  would 
with  any  other  book  whose  contents  you  wanted  to  master 
and  thoroughly  understand — read  it  diligently — read  it  heed- 
fully — read  it  with  the  strenuous  exercise  of  all  the  intelligent 
and  discerning  powers  of  the  mind — compare  passage  with 
passage,  and  address  yourself  to  this  work  of  divine  author- 
ship just  as  you  would  to  a work  of  human  authorship.  It  is 
true  that  there  is  a distinction  between  the  two,  but  not  such 
a distinction  as  should  obliterate  the  samenesses  or  simi- 
larities of  treatment  which  I have  now  insisted  on.  Take 
this  along  with  you,  I entreat ; and  then  may  I,  with  all  the 
greater  safety,  make  known  to  you  what  that  distinction  is. 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


491 


The  distinction  is  this: — You  can  become  a proficient  in 
the  things  of  natural  religion,  by  dint  of  the  natural  facul- 
ties, and  of  these  alone.  To  become  a proficient  in  the 
knowledge  of  things  spiritual  and  divine,  you  must  still  put 
forth,  and  that  on  their  most  strenuous  and  busy  exercise, 
your  natural  faculties,  but  you  will  never  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  these  other  and  higher  things — that  is,  never 
to  the  knowledge  of  them  savingly  and  spiritually — by 
these  alone.  You  must  ply,  and  that  with  all  perseverance 
and  all  diligence,  your  powers  of  attention  and  understand- 
ing, both  in  the  hearing  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures; 
but  still  you  will  not  succeed  unless  the  Spirit  of  God  come 
down  from  on  high,  and  open  your  understanding  to  under- 
stand the  Scriptures.  This  is  the  great  peculiarity  which 
appertains  to  the  Bible,  and  to  no  other  book  in  the  world. 
When  it  is  a book  of  mere  human  performance,  then  by  the 
mere  unaided  exercise  of  my  own  human  powers  I can 
master  all  that  is  in  it — and  after,  say  two  or  three  peru- 
sals, I may  get  possession  of  the  whole  mind  and  meaning 
of  its  author,  and  have  nothing  more  to  learn  from'  him.  It 
is  not  so  with  the  Bible.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  there  speak- 
ing to  me,  for  it  is  He  who  dictated  the  whole  of  that  vol- 
ume, insomuch  that  every  word  and  every  sentence  of  it  is 
the  produce  of  His  inspiration.  But  for  me  to  read  it  with 
right  and  saving  discernment,  the  Spirit  of  God  must  not 
only  speak  to  me,  He  must  also  work  in  me — so  that  not 
only  does  He  hold  forth  to  me  a light  from  without,  even 
that  word  of  God  whereof  He  is  the  alone  author,  but  He 
must  also  clear  up  my  faculty  of  vision  within,  and  so  open 
my  eyes  as  to  behold  the  wondrous  things  which  are  con- 
tained therein.  It  is  thus  that  by  means  of  this  peculiarity 
which  signalizes  the  Bible,  which  separates  and  sets  it 
apart  from  all  the  works  of  human  authorship — it  is  thus 
that  this  great  work,  this  word  of  God,  makes  proof  of  its 
high  original,  its  descent  from  heaven  to  all  those  who,  en- 
lightened from  on  high,  are  enabled  to  read  or  to  hear  it, 
not  with  natural  only,  but  with  spiritual  discernment.  We 
have  already  said,  that  whatever  man  can  write  or  man 


492 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


can  speak,  man  also,  perhaps  at  one  or  two  readings,  or  at 
one  or  two  hearings,  can  fully  understand.  But  when  God 
writes,  as  He  has  done  in  the  Bible,  or  when  God  speaks, 
as  He  does  by  the  mouth  of  those  who  are  the  expounders 
of  the  Bible,  then  taking  up  its  own  language,  we  may  say, 
Who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lor4,  or  who  hath  been 
His  counselor,  unless  by  the  help  of  that  Spirit  who  alone 
searcheth  all  things,  even  the  deep  things  of  God  ? It  is 
thus  that  without  the  Spirit  the  Bible  is  a sealed  book  to  us, 
while  with  the  Spirit,  its  otherwise  hidden  and  unsearch- 
able things  come  forth  in  open  manifestation ; for  as  an 
evidence  of  its  divine  property,  and  so  of  its  divine  original, 
while  human  compositions  can  tell  us  no  more  after  two  or 
three  perusals, — in  behalf  of  this  divine  composition  we 
appeal  to  the  aged  Christian  peasant,  who  has  read  his 
Bible  a hundred  times  over,  whether,  as  he  is  now  reading, 
some  new  light  and  new  lesson  have  not  evolved  them- 
selves so  as  to  refresh  and  satisfy  his  soul,  as  if  the  Spirit 
at  every  new  time  made  some  new  and  additional  disclos- 
ure from  the  contents  of  the  book,  the  truths  and  the  treas- 
ures of  which  are  inexhaustible — insomuch  that  to  the  end 
of  his  days  it  proves  to  him  a mine  of  endless  wealth,  from 
which  he  is  ever  getting  more,  the  more  he  explores  and 
the  more  he  digs  in  it,  so  that  every  day  he  finds  in  it  a 
greater  fullness  of  meaning  than  before,  and  every  day  is 
more  satisfied  with  its  richness. 

Before  proceeding  to  found  any  directions  on  this  im- 
portant peculiarity  by  which  the  things  of  Scripture  stand 
distinguished  from  all  the  things  of  mere  natural  knowledge 
or  of  mere  human  authorship,  I should  like  to  present  you 
with  an  illustration  of  the  difference  between  a natural  and 
a spiritual  discernment  of  the  very  same  truth,  though  time 
is  passing  on,  and  I must  therefore  confine  myself  to  give 
one  instance  as  an  example  of  all  the  rest. 

We  have  not  to  travel  out  of  the  record  for  the  purpose 
of  having  this  truth  made  known  to  us — that  God  is  every- 
where present.  It  meets  the  observation  of  the  natural 
man  in  his  reading  of  the  Bible  ; and  he  understands,  or 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


493 


thinks  he  understands,  the  terms  on  which  it  is  delivered  ; 
and  he  can  speak  of  it  with  consistency ; and  he  ranks  it 
with  the  other  attributes  of  God  ; and  he  gives  it  an  avowal 
and  a formal  admission  among  the  articles  of  his  creed — 
and  yet,  with  all  this  parade  of  light  and  of  knowledge,  he, 
upon  the  subject  of  the  all-seeing  and  the  ever-present 
Deity,  labors  under  all  the  obstinacy  of  an  habitual  blind- 
ness. Carry  him  abroad,  and  you  will  find  that  the  light 
which  beams  upon  his  senses  from  the  objects  of  sight  com- 
pletely overpowers  that  light  which  ought  to  beam  upon 
his  spirit  from  this  object  of  faith.  He  may  occasionally 
think  of  it  as  he  does  of  other  things;  but  for  every  one 
practical  purpose,  the  thought  abandons  him  so  soon  as  he 
goes  into  company,  or  takes  a part  in  the  next  worldly  con- 
cern, which  in  the  course  of  his  business  comes  round  to 
him.  It  completely  disappears  as  an  element  of  conduct, 
and  he  talks  and  thinks  and  reasons  just  as  he  would  have 
done  had  his  mind  in  reference  to  God  been  in  a state  of 
entire  darkness.  If  anything  like  a right  conception  of  the 
matter  ever  existed  in  his  heart,  the  din  and  the  daylight  of 
the  world  drive  it  all  away  from  him.  Now,  to  rectify  this 
case,  it  is  surely  not  necessary  that  the  Spirit  add  anything 
to  the  truth  of  God’s  omnipresence  as  it  is  put  down  in  the 
written  record:  it  will  be  enough  that  He  gives  to  the  mind 
on  which  he  operates  a steady  and  enduring  impression  of 
this  truth.  Now,  this  is  one  part  of  His  office  ; and  accord- 
ingly it  is  said  of  the  unction  of  the  Spirit,  that  it  is  an  unc- 
tion which  remaineth.  Neither  is  it  necessary  that  the 
light  which  He  communicates  should  consist  in  any  vision 
which  He  gives  to  the  eye,  or  in  any  bright  impression 
upon  the  fancy,  of  any  one  thing  not  to  be  found  within 
the  pages  of  the  Bible  : it  will  be  enough  if  He  give  a clear 
and  vigorous  apprehension  of  the  truth,  just  as  it  is  written, 
to  the  understanding.  Though  the  Spirit  should  do  no 
more  than  give  vivacity  and  effect  to  the  truth  of  the  con- 
stancy of  God’s  presence,  just  as  it  stands  in  the  written 
record,  this  will  be  quite  enough  to  make  the  man  who  is 
under  its  influence  carry  an  habitual  sense  of  God  about 


494  SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 

with  him — think  of  Him  in  the  shop  and  in  the  market- 
place— walk  with  Him  all  the  day  long,  and  feel  the  same 
moral  restraint  upon  his  doings  as  if  some  visible  superior, 
whose  virtues  he  revered  and  whose  approbation  he  longed 
after,  haunted  his  every  footstep,  and  kept  an  attentive  eye 
fastened  upon  the  whole  course  of  his  history.  The  nat- 
ural man  may  have  sense,  and  he  may  have  sagacity,  and 
a readiness  withal  to  admit  the  constancy  of  God’s  pres- 
ence as  an  undeniable  doctrine  of  the  Bible ; but  to  the 
power  of  this  truth  he  is  dead,  and  it  is  only  to  the  power 
of  this  world’s  interests  and  pleasures  that  he  is  alive.  The 
spiritual  man  is  the  reverse  of  all  this,  and  that  without 
carrying  his  conceptions  a single  hairbreadth  beyond  the 
communications  of  the  written  message.  He  makes  no 
pretensions  to  wisdom  by  one  jot  or  tittle  beyond  the  testi- 
mony of  Scripture  ; and  yet,  after  all,  he  lives  under  a rev- 
elation to  which  the  other  is  a stranger.  It  does  not  carry 
him  by  a single  footstep  without  the  field  of  the  written 
revelation,  but  it  throws  a radiance  over  every  object  with- 
in it.  It  furnishes  him  with  a constant  light  which  enables 
him  to  withstand  the  domineering  influence  of  sight  and  of 
sense.  He  dies  unto  the  world — he  lives  unto  God ; and 
the  reason  is  that  there  rests  upon  him  a peculiar  mani- 
festation by  which  the  truth  is  made  visible  to  the  eye  of 
his  mind,  and  a peculiar  energy  by  which  it  comes  home 
upon  his  conscience.  And  if  we  come  to  inquire  into  the 
cause  of  this  speciality,  it  is  the  language  of  the  Bible,  con- 
firmed as  we  believe  it  to  be  by  the  soundest  experience, 
that  every  power  which  nature  has  conferred  upon  man, 
exalted  to  its  highest  measure,  and  called  forth  to  its  most 
strenuous  exercise,  is  not  able  to  accomplish  it ; that  it  is 
due  to  a power  above  nature  and  beyond  it ; that  it  is  due 
to  what  the  apostle  calls  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit — 
a demonstration  withheld  from  the  self-sufliSient  exertions 
of  man,  and  given  to  his  believing  prayers. 

Now  take  this  as  a specimen  of  what  holds  in  regard 
to  all  the  other  doctrines  and  truths  of  our  holy  religion. 
There  is  a certain  understanding  of  them  which  the  natural 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


495 


man  has,  but  this  is  very  different  from  the  spiritual  and 
practical  discernment  of  them  which  he  alone  can  have 
who  has  been  taught  of  God,  or  come  under  the  teaching 
of  the  Holy  Ghost — a teaching,  however,  I would  have 
you  well  to  observe,  not  by  which  you  are  informed  of 
things  that  are  not  in  this  book,  but  only  a teaching  which 
impresses  the  truths  of  Scripture  clearly  and  effectively, 
and  with  operative  power  on  the  mind  of  him  who  reads 
the  Bible  as  he  ought,  or  who  hears  an  expounder  of  the 
Bible  as  he  Ought.  The  natural  man  may  read  with  some 
degree  of  interest  and  intelligence,  and  may  hear  with  still 
greater  ; but  what  more  palpable  than  the  wholesale  phe- 
nomenon presented  not  by  individuals  only,  but  by  the  great 
bulk  and  body  of  many  a congregation,  who  will  listen,  and 
perhaps  be  impressed  for  a time,  and  think  they  understand 
the  preacher — nay,  perhaps  do  honestly  admire  him,  and 
yet  are  not  converted  by  him  ? 

This  is  a matter  in  which  sound  experience  and  sound 
theology  are  most  palpably  at  one.  There  is  no  with- 
standing of  the  fact.  The  people  can  be  brought  in  full 
assemblage  together,  and  that  not  merely  on  the  impulse 
of  an  occasion,  but  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  might  the  church 
be  filled  to  the  very  door  by  a listening,  nay,  by  a delight- 
ed— nay,  by  a solemnized,  and  for  a time  it  may  be  by  a 
deeply  impressed,  and,  to  all  appearance  one  might  think 
by  looking  at  them,  a thoroughly  subdued  multitude,  over 
whose  willing  hearts  truth  and  Scripture  have  obtained  a 
decisive  victory,  and  the  voice  of  the  preacher  has  not  only 
charmed  the  ears,  but  positively  carried  the  feelings  and 
purposes  of  an  obedient  people.  These  demonstrations  of 
sin — these  offers,  of  a large  and  a free  salvation — seem  as 
if  they  had  told  at  the  moment  of  their  utterance,  and  that 
the  work  of  the  pulpit  was  going  on  most  prosperously. 
And  there  is  the  oratory  of  the  pulpit  just  as  there  is  the 
oratory  of  the  platform,  and  of  the  bar,  and  of  the  senate- 
house — and  the  music  of  the  one  may  regale  and  elevate 
just  as  the  other  does ; but  when  the  question  comes,  how 
is  it  that  we  have  the  blossom  of  so  many  promises,  and 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


withal  the  sickly  produce  of  so  little  fruit — what  is  it  tha 
so  draws  the  people  together,  and  yet  falls  short  of  con- 
verting them  ? — we  have  no  other  answer  to  give,  than  that 
it  is  but  a day  of  man’s  power,  and  not  a day  of  God’s  pow- 
er. The  virtue  so  to  expound  as  to  attract  may  be  there, 
but  not  the  virtue  so  to  enlighten  as  to  regenerate.  The 
influence  from  above  is  the  want ; and  while  apart  from 
any  special  or  extraordinary  unction  of  this  sort  a man 
might,  on  the  strength  of  nature  and  of  its  powers  alone, 
become  a skillful  tradesman,  or  an  able  man  of  business,  or 
an  accomplished  scholar  in  any  of  the  arts  and  sciences  of 
merely  human  acquirement,  so  as  by  dint  of  their  respective 
lessons  to  become  a good  agriculturist,  a good  physician,  a 
good  astronomer — it  is  precisely  because,  however  versed 
in  the  lessons  of  Scripture,  if  the  Spirit  of  God  withhold 
from  them  His  efficacy,  he  does  not  and  cannot  become  a 
good  Christian. 

Let  me  now  found,  upon  the  explanation  we  have  given, 
a few  brief  practical  instructions  both  as  to  how  you  should 
read  the  Bible,  and,  which  substantially  is  the  same  thing, 
as  to  how  you  should  hear  him  who  from  the  pulpit  ex- 
pounds and  enforces  the  lessons  of  the  Bible.  “Take  heed 
how  you  hear.” 

First,  then,  although  the  few  directions  I mean  to  give 
bear  all  of  them  a special  reference  to  the  doctrine  that 
without  the  Spirit  of  God  we  can  never  read  of  things 
sacred  to  any  purpose,  or  rather  although  these  directions 
are  expressly  founded  upon  that  doctrine,  yet,  notwith- 
standing, it  is  our  very  first  direction  that  you  should  hear 
diligently,  or  in  other  words,  that  you  bring  all  your  nat- 
ural faculties,  your  attention,  your  intelligence,  your  mem- 
ory— all  the  mental  powers,  in  short,  which  God  hath  given 
you — that  you  press  them  into  the  service  of  a close  and 
busy  engagement,  whether  with  the  Bible  when  you  are 
holding  converse  with  its  pages,  or  with  the  preacher  when 
you  are  hanging  upon  his  utterance — and  this  for  the  pur- 
pose of  understanding  aright,  and  being  impressed  aright, 
either  by  what  you  read  or  by  what  you  hear.  There  is 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


497 


nothing  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit  which  supersedes  the 
very  processes  in  the  scholarship  of  Christianity  which  are 
set  a going  and  are  of  avail  in  all  other  scholarship.  In 
operating  upon  man  He  does  not  work  against  his  nature, 
but  He  works  according  to  and  with  his  nature.  He  does 
not  take  the  work  of  salvation  out  of  the  man’s  own  hands, 
but  He  strengthens  and  enables  and  rightly  equips  the  man 
for  working  out  his  own  salvation.  It  is  a most  mischiev- 
ous abuse  of  our  doctrine,  that  because  the  Spirit  does  all, 
man  has  nothing  to  do,  and  so  might  fold  his  arms  and  for- 
bear the  exertion  of  all  his  faculties,  for  in  truth  it  is  by  the 
man’s  faculties,  and  through  his  faculties,  that  the  Spiri* 
does  anything.  The  effect  of  His  working  in  us  is  to  set 
us  a working.  When  He  intromits  with  man,  it  is  not  to 
violate  the  laws  of  his  constitution  ; it  is  not  to  derange  the 
machinery  either  of  his  moral  or  intellectual  nature,  but  to 
set  that  machinery  rightly  and  prosperously  a going.  So 
far  from  setting  aside  human  instrumentality,  He  has  the 
greatest  value  for  it ; for  example,  in  the  case  of  Lydia  He 
did  not  Himself  tell  her  about  the  things  of  salvation,  He 
left  that  to  the  apostle ; neither  did  He  force  these  things 
on  her  acceptance  without  any  forthputting  of  her  own  fac- 
ulties, and  yet  He  did  interpose  between  these  parties,  but 
it  was  so  to  open  the  heart  of  Lydia  that  she  attended  to 
the  things  that  were  spoken  of  Paul.  And  so  also  in  the 
case  of  Peter  and  Cornelius  : He  neither  took  from  the  one 
his  office  as  a preacher,  nor  from  the  other  his  powers  and 
duties  as  a hearer ; both  were  at  their  right  post:  the  former 
earnestly  charging  and  explaining,  the  other  as  earnestly 
and  diligently  listening,  and  it  was  when  thus  severally 
employed,  and  not  till  then,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all 
them  who  heard ; and  accordingly  we  are  bidden  to  take 
heed  to  the  word  of  the  prophecy,  and  persevere  in  the 
exercise  till  the  day  dawn  and  the  day-star  arise  in  our 
hearts.  There  never  was  a more  glaring  perversion,  by  a 
sadly  misplaced  and  a sadly  misunderstood  orthodoxy,  than 
that  because  the  Spirit  does  all,  man  is  to  do  nothing.  It 
is  a most  blessed  truth  that  the  Spirit  is  given  because  His 


498 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


aid  is  indispensable,  still  He  is  thus  given  not  to  prevent 
our  diligence,  but  to  prompt  our  diligence,  and  to  set  it 
a going;  or,  if  He  find  you  already  diligent,  still  He  is  given 
not  to  stop  that  diligence,  but  to  make  it  effectual.  Wheth- 
er, then,  in  the  way  of  stirring  up  the  gift  that  is  in  you, 
or  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  down  that  gift  upon  you,  in 
the  full  view  of  the  Spirit  and  with  special  reference  to  His 
agency  for  giving  effect  to  your  attendance  on  the  Yneans 
of  grace,  it  is  my  first  direction  to  one  and  to  all,  that  in 
taking  heed  how  you  hear,  you  shall  hear  diligently. 

And  then,  as  a direct  preparative  for  the  descent  of  this 
blessed  influence  from  on  high,  it  is  my  second  direction — 
That  you  shall  hear  desirously.  But  desirously  for  what? 
There  is  a great  running  after  ministers  in  this  our  day, 
and  this  argues  a great  desire  of  something  or  other ; but 
we  again  put  the  question — desire  of  what?  Is  it  to  be 
regaled  by  the  eloquence  of  the  preacher? — is  it  because 
you  are  lured  by  the  report  of  his  high  and  his  far-sounding 
popularity  ? — is  it  because  you  want  a feast  for  your  imag- 
ination, or  your  intellect,  or  any  of  your  sensibilities,  such 
as  you  might  have  when  listening  to  the  oratory  of  the  bar, 
or  to  the  oratory  of  the  senate-house,  or  even  to  the  idle 
declamations  of  the  theater?  That  is  not  a desirousness 
which  will  help  you  forward,  but  rather  prove  an  impedi- 
ment in  the  way  of  your  salvation.  What  I want  is  the 
desirousness  of  the  conscience-stricken  sinner,  earnestly 
longing  to  be  right  with  God ; it  is  the  simple  and  serious 
desire  to  become  wise  unto  salvation  ; it  is  a deep-felt  desire 
for  the  good  of  your  souls,  grounded  on  the  deep  sense  of 
their  exceeding  worthlessness,  and  yet  of  the  exceeding 
worth  and  magnitude  of  their  eternity.  The  men  who  can 
minister  best — not  to  the  taste,  not  to  the  curiosity,  not  to 
the  passion  for  excitement — but  who  can  minister  best  to 
the  urgent  necessities  and  demands  of  the  conscience,  these 
are  the  men  we  should  like  to  see  run  after — men,  it  may 
be,  not  of  gifts,  but  of  graces,  faithful  stewards  of  the 
mysteries  of  God,  being  themselves  men  of  faith  and  of 
prayer,  who  can  best  feed  the  people  with  the  bread  of 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


499 


life,  because  inclined  and  enabled  by  their  Master  to  feed 
them  with  both  knowledge  and  spiritual  understanding. 
Let  yours  be  a desire  for  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that 
you  may  grow  thereby — let  yours  be  a real  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  righteousness,  and  yours  will  be  the  desirous- 
ness we  mean  when,  in  giving  you  our  second  direction  as 
to  how  you  should  hear,  we  tell  you  to  hear  desirously. 

Our  third  direction  is — Hear  with  special  application  to 
yourself  as  far  as  you  are  warranted  to  do  so  by  the  lan- 
guage of  Scripture. — And  the  language  of  Scripture  does 
warrant  such  a specific  application  throughout  a very  wide 
range  indeed  both  of  its  statements  and  calls.  Who,  for 
example,  can  refuse  the  warrant  when  the  Bible  makes  use 
of  a term  so  unexcepted,  so  universal,  as  “ every  one  ?” — 
“ Cursed  is  every  one  who  continueth  not  in  all  the  words 
of  the  law  to  do  them.”  Here  is  a passage  which  carries 
a sentence  of  condemnation  throughout  one  and  all  of  the 
human  family ; but  this  very  term  is  the  harbinger  of  other 
tidings  than  those  of  doom  and  of  dismay — “Every  one 
that  asketh  receiveth.”  Here  then  is  a message  of  recon- 
ciliation to  one  and  all  of  the  human  family,  who,  in  other 
ways,  too,  and  under  other  forms  of  expression,  are  called 
to  cast  themselves  in  dependence  and  prayer  on  that  God 
who  sets  Himself  forth  as  God  in  Christ,  and  holds  out  the 
scepter  of  a free  and  gracious  invitation  to  every  sinner 
within  the  call  of  the  gospel.  Hear  as  for  yourself,  then, 
the  voice  of  the  preacher,  and  thus  to  yourself  will  every 
utterance  of  his  be  a word  of  warning,  or  a word  of  encour- 
agement, or  a word  of  direction ; you  will  read  the  Bible 
as  if  it  were  sent  to  you  individually ; you  will  hear  the 
minister  as  if  he  were  speaking  to  you  individually.  It  is 
a simple  advice  that  I am  now  rendering ; but  just  as  the 
natural  life  may  be  sustained  on  the  simple  aliment  of  air 
and  water  and  the  plainest  of  food,  so  it  is  on  simple  truths 
that  the  spiritual  life  of  man  is  sustained ; and  could  we 
only  prevail  on  each  reader  or  -each  hearer  to  isolate  him- 
self, and  either  read  as  if  he — personally  and  particularly 
-—were  holding  converse  with  God  in  the  Bible,  or  hear  as 


500 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


if  he  in  the  same  personal  and  particular  way  were  holding 
converse  with  God  through  the  minister,  why,  on  this 
advice,  plain  and  simple  as  it  is,  there  may  hinge  the  good 
of  your  eternity,  and  through  a blessing  from  above  on  the 
means  of  grace,  may  it  prove  the  very  turning-point  of 
your  salvation. 

Our  fourth  direction  is — Hear  distrustfully  of  yourselves, 
but  dependingly  on  the  promised  grace  from  on  high  to 
enlighten  and  to  guide  you  to  all  truth.  It  is  a grievous 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  your  spiritual  illumination  that  you 
have  confidence  in  your  own  natural  powers  of  discern- 
ment ; for  the  natural  man  discerneth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit,  and  God,  we  read,  resisteth  the  proud.  It  is  well, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  you  have  a deep  sense  of  your  own 
natural  insufficiency  and  blindness ; for  God,  we  are  again 
told,  giveth  grace  to  the  humble.  Hear  diligently,  then, 
and  hear  desirously.  Hear  with  special  application,  and 
hear  withal  distrustfully  of  yourselves  and  dependingly  on 
God,  and  you  are  in  that  very  attitude  of  waiting  upon  Him 
in  the  way  both  of  prescribed  and  of  well-grounded  hope 
which  bids  the  likeliest  for  the  fulfillment  of  these  precious 
sayings — He  who  seeketh  findeth,  and — If  any  man  keep 
my  commandments  to  him  will  I manifest  myself. 

Our  last  direction  as  to  how  you  ought  to  hear  is — That 
you  should  hear  prayerfully.  The  former  directions,  in- 
deed, if  followed  out,  will  land  in  this  our  concluding  one. 
To  hear  distinctly,  and  to  hear  for  himself  as  for  his  own 
eternity,  and  to  hear  distrustfully  of  one’s  self,  and  to  hear 
dependingly  on  God — these  affections  of  the  soul  must  and 
will  find  vent  in  prayer.  Prayer  is  the  vehicle  of  inter- 
change between  earth  and  heaven — carrying  up  the  desires 
of  the  heart,  and  fetching  down  the  dispensations  of  grace 
from  on  high.  When  the  thing  asked  for  is  prompted  by 
man’s  will  and  agreeable  to  God’s  will,  there  is  not  one 
remaining  obstacle  in  the  way  of  its  fulfillment  but  the  want 
of  faith.  Now,  if  you  are  really  set  on  the  spiritual  and 
saving  understanding  of  God’s  word,  then  are  your  will 
and  God’s  will  most  thoroughly  at  one.  Whatever  ye  ask 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


501 


that  is  agreeable  to  the  will  of  God,  ye  shall  receive.  Now, 
we  read  that  it  is  God’s  will  that  all  men  shall  be  saved 
and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ; and  we  further 
read,  that  the  Scriptures  are  able  to  make  us  wise  unto 
salvation  through  the  faith  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Are  you 
willing,  then,  to  understand  the  Scriptures  for  the  saving 
of  your  soui  ? God  is  abundantly  willing  for  the  same 
thing ; and  when  these  two  wills  meet,  what  power  in 
earth  or  in  hell  can  stay  the  accomplishment  of  that  com- 
mon object  which  both  are  set  upon?  If  you  are  willing 
for  salvation,  and  God  wills  you  to  be  saved,  where  is  the 
let  or  hindrance,  we  would  ask,  in  the  way  of  your  blissful 
eternity?  It  is  true  that  you  must  have  some  faith,  even 
though  it  were  as  a grain  of  mustard  seed — some  such  sense 
of  the  reality  of  the  whole  matter  as  that  what  you  hear 
shall  not  appear  to  you  as  idle  tales,  and  you  believe  them 
not.  But  then  if  you  had  no  belief  in  what  the  Bible  tells 
of  the  unseen  things  of  another  world,  you  would  have  no 
desire  after  them — the  very  existence  of  the  desire  proves 
that  there  is  some  sort  of  faith  within  you ; and  let  us  not 
forget  the  encouragement  which  our  Saviour  gives,  when 
He  tells  us  that  this  faith,  even  though  small  as  an  atom, 
will  open  a way  for  you  to  the  mightiest  achievements. 
Go  then  in  good  heart  and  with  confidence  to  the  work, 
both  of  reading  the  Bible  and  of  hearing  the  faithful  ex- 
pounder of  the  Bible.  Whatever  ye  ask  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  ye  shall  receive  ; and  if  you  ask  for  that  knowledge 
of  Himself  which  is  life  everlasting,  He  is  both  able  and 
willing  to  do  for  you  what  He  did  for  the  disciples  on  their 
way  to  Emmaus,  to  open  your  understandings  that  you 
might  understand  the  Scriptures.  The  prayer  of  David, 
and  which  availed  him,  is  as  available  still  in  the  mouth  of 
every  earnest  inquirer — “Open  Thou  mine  eyes,  that  I 
may  behold  the  wondrous  things  contained  in  thy  law.” 
“ Awake,  O sinner,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light.” 
Awake  to  the  magnitude  and  reality  of  these  things,  and 
give  earnest,  prayerful  heed  to  them,  and  He  will  translate 
you  out  of  darkness  into  the  marvelous  light  of  the  gospel. 


502 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


The  day  will  be  matje  to  dawn,  and  the  day-star  to  arise  in 
your  hearts. 

Let  me  only  add,  that  beside  prayer  for  yourselves,  you 
should  make  intercession  for  others  also ; and  more  espe- 
cially on  this  occasion,  that  the  house  in  which  we  are  now 
assembled  for  the  first  time  may  prove  a blessing  to  the 
families  of  its  hearers — that  it  may  reclaim  many  to  habits 
of  church-going,  and  in  particular,  that  those  young  men 
who  are  now  given  to  the  wanderings  of  Sabbath  profan- 
ation, may  be  lured,  and  that  from  early  boyhood,  to  the 
wholesome  practice  of  regular  attendance  on  the  services 
of  the  sanctuary,  so  that  that  most  pleasing  of  all  spectacles 
— a well  filled  family  pew — may,  as  in  the  days  of  our  god- 
lier  forefathers,  be  again  the  frequent,  nay,  the  general 
object  of  our  delighted  contemplation.  Above  all,  let  it  be 
our  fervent  supplication,  that  beside  the  bodily  presence  of 
assembled  worshipers,  there  may  at  all  times  be  the  pres- 
ence of  a grace  and  an  unction  from  on  high,  that  both 
minister  and  people  may  be  guided  to  the  right  exercise  of 
their  respective  functions — the  one  so  taught  how  to  speak, 
and  the  other  how  to  hear,  as  to  have  a fruitful  issue  in 
the  conversion  of  many  souls.  Oh ! that  this  beauteous 
temple  may  prove  the  harbinger  of  what  is  goodlier  still — 
the  Sabbath  quiet  and  the  Sabbath  sacredness — and  most 
precious  of  all,  the  love  and  the  peace  and  the  holiness  and 
all  the  graces  of  our  coming  heaven  to  those  who  repair  to 
it.  Thus  might  a little  heaven  on  earth  be  realized ; and 
long  after  we,  as  the  seniors  of  the  present  age,  are  molder- 
ing  in  our  coffins,  may  the  prophetic  blessing  be  fulfilled  on 
our  children’s  children — That  because  of  this  man  and  that 
man  being  born  here,  righteousness  has  been  made  to  run 
down  all  our  streets,  and  to  descend  with  all  the  force  and 
fullness  of  an  increasing  river  from  generation  to  gener- 
ation. 

Before  I conclude,  let  me  hope  that  the  lesson  of  how  you 
are  to  hear  has  so  far  told  that  one  may  read  out  a very 
few  of  the  most  pregnant  verses  in  the  Bible,  short  but  sub- 
stantial, as  containing  in  them  the  very  marrow  of  the 


FREE  ST.  JOHN’S,  GLASGOW. 


503 


gospel,  that  one  or  other  of  these  may  perhaps  take  effect 
on  the  souls  of  some  who  are  before  me.  The  first  I shaP 
repeat,  as  we  read  in  the  Life  of  Colonel  Gardiner,  was  the 
instrument  of  his  conversion,  letting,  as  it  were,  the  light  of 
heaven  into  his  mind,  and  so  as  that  from  that  time  forward 
he  became  a new  creature  in  Jesus  Christ.  Who  knows 
what  may  be  the  effect  of  the  simple  reading  of  a few  such 
verses  in  your  hearing  now,  and  more  especially  if  you 
consider  that  it  is  now  God  speaking  from  Himself,  and  not 
speaking  as  in  the  great  bulk  of  a sermon  through  the  lips 
of  the  minister? — “Being  justified  freely  by  His  grace, 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ; whom  God 
hath  set  forth  to  be  a propitiation  through  faith  in  His  blood, 
to  declare  His  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that 
are  past,  through  th$  forbearance  of  God  ; to  declare,  I 
say,  at  this  time  His  righteousness ; that  He  might  be  just, 
and  the  justifier  of  Him  which  believeth  in  Jesus.” — “God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life.” — “God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the 
world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through 
Him  might  be  saved.” — “ As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in 
the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up, 
that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  eternal  life.” — “ He  that  spared  not  His  own  Son,  but 
delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  He  not  with  Him 
also  freely  give  us  all  things  ?” — •“  He  hath  made  Him  to  be 
sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  Him.” — “ In  this  was  manifested 
the  love  of  God  towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  His  only 
begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through 
Him.” — “ Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that 
God  loved  us,  and  sent  His  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins.” — “ The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  cleanseth 
us  from  all  sin.” — Such,  my  brethren,  are  a few  declarations 
from  the  word  of  God.  Let  me  close  with  a few  invitations 
grounded  upon  these : — “ Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil 
ways,  for  why  will  ye  die  ?” — “ Turn  ye  to  the  stronghold, 


504 


SERMON  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  FREE  ST.  JOHN’S. 


ye  prisoners  of  hope.” — “ Come  to  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy  laden,  and  I will  give  you  rest.” — “ Now  then 
we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech 
you  by  us : we  pray  you  in  Christ’s  stead,  be  ye  reconciled 
to  God.” — “Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing ; and  I will 
receive  you,  and  will  be  a Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be 
my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty.” — “ We 
then,  as  workers  together  with  Him,  beseech  you  also  that 
ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in  vain.  For  He  saith,  I 
have  heard  thee  in  a time  accepted,  and  in  the  day  of  sal- 
vation have  I succored  thee ; behold,  now  is  the  accepted 
time  ; behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation.” — “ Whosoever 
will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely.” 

May  these  true  sayings  of  God  sink  deep  in  your  hearts, 
and  may  the  Spirit  so  press  them  home  that  they  may  be 
to  you  the  bearers  of  peace  with  God  and  of  life  everlast- 
ing, and  to  His  name  be  praise. 


SERMON  XXXIII. 


[On  Sabbath,  the  25th  April,  1847,  Dr.  Chalmers  preached  at  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  first  sacrament  administered  in  the  Church  of  the  West  Port, 
Edinburgh — the  last  sacrament  at  which  he  was^  ever  to  preside.  On  that 
occasion  the  inexpressible  gratification  was  afforded  to  him  of  seeing  within 
a church  of  his  own  raising,  a goodly  number  of  that  very  class  of  the  com- 
munity for  whose  benefit  it  was  erected,  and  of  knowing  that  at  the  table  of 
the  Lord  there  sat  down  that  day  about  twenty  individuals,  none  of  whom 
for  many  years  before — some  of  whom  not  once  in  the  course  of  a long  life- 
time— had  commemorated  the  dying  love  of  the  Redeemer.  Prepared  on 
such  occasion,  and  for  such  an  audience,  the  sermon  which  follows  has  this 
additional  interest  attached  to  it,  that  it  was  the  last  ever  written  by  its 
author — composed  about  a month  before  his  death.] 

ISAIAH  LVI.  4,  5. 

“ Take  hold  of  my  covenant.” 

We  do  not  enough  contemplate  the  Christian  salvation 
in  the  form  of  a covenant,  and  yet  it  is  often  so  represented 
in  Scripture.  From  a very  early  period  indeed  in  the  his- 
tory of  God’s  dealings  with  men,  this  is  set  forth  as  the  re- 
lation in  which  He  and  the  people  who  are  peculiarly  His 
own  are  made  to  stand  to  each  other — we  mean,  the  rela- 
tion of  parties  in  a covenant,  a contract,  as  it  were,  having 
its  articles  of  agreement,  its  mutual  stipulations,  its  terms 
of  engagement  consented  to  on  both  sides,  and  binding  upon 
both.  It  were  well  if  Christians  looked  more  at  this,  and 
dwelt  more  on  this,  as  being  the  very  condition  and  state 
of  the  matter  between  them  and  God, — so  that  instead  of 
the  vague  and  loose  and  general  views  that  take  no  real  or 
practical  hold  of  a man,  they  were  made  precisely  and  dis- 
tinctly to  understand  what  the  obligations  are  which  lie 
upon  each — what  the  things  are,  on  the  one  hand,  they  owe 
to  God  ; and  what,  on  the  other  hand,  the  things  are  which 
the  great  God  of  hesven  and  earth  has  bound  Himself  to 

VOL.  VI.-- Y 


506 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


do  for  them, — so  that  instead  of  this  religion  of  ours  floating 
before  the  eye  of  our  mind  in  the  form  of  a slight,  shape- 
less, shadowy  imagination,  it  shall  be  clearly  apprehended 
by  us  as  an  express  and  definite  scheme,  both  of  what  man 
is  engaged  by  promise  to  do  for  God,  and  of  what  God  is 
engaged  by  promise  to  do  for  man.  We  know  of  nothing 
better  adapted  for  this  purpose  than  to  look  at  religion  in 
the  light  and  under  the  idea  of  a covenant ; and  as  we  have 
already  said  that  this  is  the  light  in  which  it  is  regarded 
and  often  spoken  of  in  Scripture,  let  us  present  you  with  a 
few  specimens  of  this. 

Numb.  xxv.  12,  13. — “Wherefore  say,  Behold  I give 
unto  him  my  covenant  of  peace : and  he  shall  have  it,  and 
his  seed  after  him,  even  the  covenant  of  an  everlasting 
priesthood.”  This  applies,  no  doubt,  to  a different  cove- 
nant from  that  which  obtains  between  God  and  us  in  the 
present  day.  Nevertheless  I make  the  quotation  because 
ours  has  the  same  characteristics  with  the  covenant  of  these 
verses.  Ours,  too,  is  a covenant  of  peace,  and  the  cove- 
nant of  an  everlasting  priesthood. 

Deut.  iv.  23,  31. — “ Take  heed  unto  yourselves,  lest  ye 
forget  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God” — “ for  the  Lord 
thy  God  is  a merciful  God  : He  will  not  forsake  thee,  neither 
destroy  thee,  nor  forget  the  covenant  of  thy  fathers,  which 
He  sware  unto  them.”  Neither  does  this  refer  to  our  cov- 
enant ; but  I quote  it  notwithstanding  ; for  neither  must  we 
forget  our  part  of  the  covenant,  and  God,  most  assuredly, 
will  not  forget  His  ; for  ours,  too,  has  the  guarantee  both 
of  His  word  and  His  oath. 

Deut.  xxix.  12. — “ Enter  into  covenant  with  the  Lord  thy 
God.”  This  is  a call  on  the  Israelites,  and  the  same  call  is 
upon  us  now,  to  enter  into  covenant  with  God. 

Deut.  xxix.  25. — “ Because  they  have  forsaken  the  cov- 
enant of  the  Lord  God.”  Ours,  too,  is  a covenant  which 
if  we  forsake,  wrath  will  come  upon  us,  as  it  did  upon  the 
Israelites,  to  the  uttermost. 

Deut.  xxxi.  20. — “ Then  will  they  turn  unto  other  gods, 
and  serve  them,  and  provoke  me,  and  break  my  covenant.” 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


507 


We,  too,  may  turn  away  from  the  service  of  God,  and  break 
the  covenant  into  which  we  have  entered,  and  so  incur  the 
fiercest  provocation. 

1 Chron.  xvi.  15. — “ Be  ye  mindful  always  of  His  cove- 
nant ; the  word  which  He  commanded  to  a thousand  gen- 
erations.” Psalm  xxv.  14. — “ The  secret  of  the  Lord  is 
with  them  that  fear  Him  ; and  He  will  shew  them  His  cov- 
enant.” Psalm  lxxviii.  37. — “ For  their  heart  was  not  righl 
with  Him,  neither  were  they  steadfast  in  His  covenant.’ 
Psalm  lxxxix.  28. — “ My  mercy  will  I keep  for  him  for 
evermore,  and  my  covenant  shall  stand  fast  with  him.” 
Psalm  cxi.  5. — “He  hath  given  meat  unto  them  that  fear 
Him  : He  will  ever  be  mindful  of  His  covenant.”  Jer. 
xxxiii.  20,  21. — “ Thus  saith  the  Lord,  If  ye  can  break  my 
covenant  of  the  day,  and  my  covenant  of  the  night,  and 
that  there  should  not  be  day  and  night  in  their  season  ; then 
may  also  my  covenant  be  broken  with  David  my  servant, 
that  he  should  not  have  a son  to  reign  upon  his  throne  ; and 
with  the  Levites  the  priests,  my  ministers.”  Jer.  xxxiv.  18. 
— “ And  I will  give  the  men  that  have  transgressed  my 
covenant,  which  have  not  performed  the  words  of  the  cov- 
enant which  they  had  made  before  me,  when  they  cut  the 
calf  in  twain,  and  passed  between  the  parts  thereof.”  Jer. 
1.  5. — “ They  shall  ask  the  way  to  Zion  with  their  faces 
thitherward,  saying,  Come,  and  let  us  join  ourselves  to  the 
Lord  in  a perpetual  covenant  that  shall  not  be  forgotten.” 
Ezek.  xx.  37. — “ And  I will  cause  you  to  pass  under  the 
rod,  and  I will  bring  you  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant.” 
Mai.  ii.  5. — “ My  covenant  was  with  him  of  life  and  peace  ; 
and  I gave  them  to  him  for  the  fear  wherewith  he  feared 
me,  and  was  afraid  before  my  name.”  2 Sam.  xxiii.  5. — 
**  Although  my  house  be  not  so  with  God  ; yet  He  hath 
made  with  me  an  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in  all  things, 
and  sure : for  this  is  all  my  salvation,  and  all  my  desire, 
although  he  make  it  not  to  grow.”  Deut.  vii.  9-12 — “Know 
therefore  that  the  Lord  thy  God,  He  is  God,  the  faithful 
God,  which  keepeth  covenant  and  mercy  with  them  that 
love  Him  and  keep  His  commandments  to  a thousand  gen- 


508 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


erations  ; and  repayeth  them  that  hate  Him  to  their  face, 
to  destroy  them : He  will  not  be  slack  to  him  that  hateth 
Him,  He  will  repay  him  to  his  face.  Thou  shalt  therefore 
keep  the  commandments,  and  the  statutes,  and  the  judg- 
ments, which  I command  thee  this  day,  to  do  them.  Where- 
fore it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  ye  hearken  to  these  judgments, 
and  keep  and  do  them,  that  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  keep 
unto  thee  the  covenant  and  the  mercy  which  He  sware 
unto  thy  fathers.”  Psalm  lxxviii.  10. — “ They  kept  not  the 
covenant  of  God,  and  refused  to  walk  in  His  law.”  Psalm 
ciii.  17,  18. — “ But  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  everlast- 
ing to  everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  Him,  and  His  right- 
eousness unto  children’s  children  ; to  such  as  keep  His  cov- 
enant, and  to  those  that  remember  His  commandments  to 
do  them.”  Psalm  cv.  8. — “ He  hath  remembered  His  cov- 
enant for  ever,  the  word  which  He  commanded  to  a thou- 
sand generations.” 

Such,  then,  are  sundry  verses  out  of  the  many  in  which 
the  word  occurs,  and  such  the  various  things  said  in  Scrip- 
ture of  a covenant.  They  will  convince  you  how  fre- 
quently, or  rather  how  habitually  it  is,  that  the  relationship 
in  which  God  stands  to  His  people,  and  His  people  to  God, 
is  viewed  under  this  particular  aspect,  and,  I hope,  will  pre 
pare  you  to  listen  with  all  the  more  attention  and  earnest- 
ness when  we  proceed  to  explain  what  the  articles  are  of 
that  covenant  which  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  has  over- 
tured  from  heaven  for  the  acceptance  of  the  world,  to  which 
all  men  are  called  upon  to  give  themselves,  and  within  the 
bond  of  which  every  true  disciple  of  the  Saviour  is  placed 
and  abides  perpetually,  mindful  of  the  part  which  he  has  in 
it  to  the  end  of  his  days,  till  God — never  unmindful  of  His 
part  in  it — gives  effect  and  fulfillment  to  its  crowning  arti- 
cle, by  conferring  on  the  faithful  all  the  glories  and  rewards 
of  a blissful  eternity.  Be  assured  of  this  covenant  that  it, 
too,  is  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure — that  men  may  forget 
and  fall  away  from  it,  but  that  God  never  will — that  it  is 
stable  as  are  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  nature,  nay,  more 
lasting  than  nature  itself — that  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


509 


away,  but  that  none  of  its  words  and  none  of  its  articles 
can  fail. 

Let  us  now  propound  what  the  terms  or  articles  of  the 
Christian  covenant  are.  They  are  very  distinct,  and  noth- 
ing is  required  but  earnest  and  serious  attention  that  you 
may  have  a distinct  understanding  of  them — and  surely 
nothing  should  concern  you  more  than  to  get  such  an  un- 
derstanding of  them.  It  is  stated  in  one  of  the  verses  which 
we  have  just  read,  as  a choice  privilege  conferred  on  those 
who  fear  God,  that  He  will  show  them  His  covenant.  And 
can  there  be  aught  of  more  importance,  whether  in  time  or 
eternity,  for  sinners  to  know,  than  what  that  covenant  of 
mercy  is,  afid  what  its  particulars,  by  laying  hold  of  which 
they  in  fact  lay  hold  of  life  eternal  ? To  show  them  this 
covenant,  just  as  you  would  lay  down  and  make  plain  to 
them  the  articles  of  a contract,  or  an  agreement,  or  a treaty, 
pointing  out  to  sinners,  in  so  many  readable  and  distinct 
characters,  the  way  of  their  salvation — oh  ! that  you  felt, 
then,  as  you  ought,  how  momentous  the  subject  is  of  our 
present  explanation.  What  we  want  to  tell  you  of  are  the 
things  done  by  God,  and  the  things  to  be  done  by  you  in 
order  that  you  might  be  saved.  These,  in  truth,  are  the 
things  which  the  Scriptures  principally  teach — even,  to 
adopt  the  words  of  our  Shorter  Catechism,  “ what  man  has 
to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what  duty  God  requires 
from  him.”  These  might  be  stated  in  greater  or  less  de- 
grees of  fullness  and  length — either  very  minutely  and  par- 
ticularly, or  very  briefly  and  generally.  We  shall  take  the 
latter  way,  and  speak  to  you  of  these  things  as  comprised 
in  a covenant  of  four  leading  articles ; and  just  as  in  any 
covenant  between  two  parties,  certain  things  are  laid  upon 
the  one  party  and  certain  things  upon  the  other — so  in-  this 
covenant  of  four  articles  between  God  and  man,  we  should 
be  disposed  to  regard  two  of  these  as  standing  upon  God’s 
side  of  the  covenant,  and  two  of  them  upon  man’s  side  of 
the  covenant. 

The  first  of  these  articles,  thn,  might  be  said  to  come 
wholly  from  God.  It  is  an  overture  of  mercy  to  our  sinful 


510 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


world,  or  rather  to  every  man  who  will  consent  to  enter 
into  the  covenant,  of  which  this  may  be  regarded  as  the 
first  and  foremost  article.  But  we  are  expressing  it  too 
vaguely  and  generally  when  we  call  it  a mere  overture  of 
mercy ; — it  brings  us  nearer  to  the  real  state  of  the  trans- 
action, and  sets  it  forth  in  the  character  more  obviously  of 
an  article  or  covenant,  when  we  represent  the  substance 
of  the  overture  as  being  the  forgiveness  of  a debt — and 
more  nearly  still,  that  a Surety  has  stepped  forward  and 
undertakes  the  payment  of  this  debt,  even  to  the  last  far- 
thing of  it.  Even  an  ordinary  debt  is  often  settled  in  this 
way,  upon  a certain  specific  consideration — generally,  as 
m cases  of  bankruptcy,  on  the  payment  of  a composition, 
but  sometimes  also  on  the  interposal  of  a surety  who  be- 
comes responsible  for  the  payment  of  the  whole.  Now 
such  a surety  in  our  case  is  Jesus  Christ,  who  laid  down 
His  life  for  a ransom,  poured  out  His  blood — His  precious 
and  peace-speaking  blood — as  the  cost  of  our  redemption, 
and  hence  termed  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant. 
This  then  is  the  footing  on  which  God  holds  out  forgive- 
ness to  all  who  will  but  understand  well  the  articles.  He 
will  not  grant  this  forgiveness  on  any  other  footing.  It  is 
not  on  the  footing  of  general  mercy,  but  on  the  footing  of 
a thus  purchased  and  thus  propitiated  mercy,  that  He  holds 
out  forgiveness.  It  may  have  been  mercy,  the  mercy  of 
an  infinite  compassion,  not  willing  that  even  the  chief  of 
sinners  should  perish — it  may  have  been  God’s  so  loving 
the  world  which  led  to  the  drawing  up  of  a covenant  at  all. 
But  now  that  the  covenant  is  drawn  up,  it  is  upon  its  terms, 
and  upon  no  other,  that  the  sinner  can  be  taken  into  accept- 
ance. God  will  not  take  into  acceptance  the  transgressors 
of  His  law  but  in  such  a way  as  that  that  law  shall  be  mag- 
nified and  made  honorable.  To  make  provision  for  this  is 
one  great  end  of  the  covenant.  Christ  b^re  the  penalties 
of  the  law,  and  so  made  an  end  of  sin — that  is,  of  all  further 
reckoning  with  His  own  people  because  of  sin,  agreeably 
to  what  is  said  of  there  being  no  condemnation  to  those  who 
are  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  Christ  fulfilled  the  demands  of 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


511 


the  law,  and  so  brought  in  an  everlasting  righteousness — a 
righteousness  which  is  unto  all,  and  upon  all  who  take  hold 
of  the  covenant.  It  is  thus  that,  under  the  peculiar  econo- 
my of  the  gospel,  truth  and  justice  have  to  do  with  the  par- 
don and  acceptance  of  the  sinner  as  well  as  mercy.  It  is 
just  in  God  the  lawgiver  to  exact  the  penalty  of  His  broken 
law,  but  it  were  not  just  to  exact  it  twice  over — that  is, 
both  from  the  sinner  and  the  sinner’s  substitute.  It  is  but 
justice  that  the  creditor  should  be  paid  his  debt,  but  not  just 
that  it  should  be  paid  him  twice — that  is,  by  the  surety  and 
the  debtor  both,  for  justice  requires  that  the  debtor  should 
be  released  from  the  whole  obligation  so  soon  as  the  surety 
has  discharged  it — and  accordingly  it  is  a most  important 
verse,  and  lets  us,  as  it  were,  to  the  principle  of  the  Chris- 
tian salvation — that  God  is  not  only  merciful,  but  that  He  is 
faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us 
from  all  our  unrighteousness.  See  then,  my  brethren,  the 
mighty  additional  strength  and  security  which  it  gives  to 
the  method  of  salvation,  that  it  is  a salvation  by  covenant, 
compassed  about  by  all  the  guarantees  of  an  express,  formal, 
ratified  agreement  between  two  parties  mutually  bound  to 
each  other,  or  under  strict  reciprocal  engagements  to  each 
other.  What  a condescension  to  sinners  that  God  hath 
thus  bound  Himself,  so  that  they  have  not  only  the  mercy 
of  God,  but  the  justice  and  the  truth  of  God  upon  their  sides, 
as  the  pledges  and  the  guarantees  of  their  salvation.  This 
is  His  own  express  overture,  pardon — not  out  of  Christ,  for 
out  of  Christ  He  is  a consuming  fire — but  pardon  in  Christ, 
for  in  Christ  He  is  a reconciled  and  reconciling  Father. 
And  there  is  pardon  on  this  footing  to  all  who  will — even 
the  worst  and  most  worthless  of  sinners  are  welcome  to  it, 
insomuch  that  the  embassadors  of  God  are  commissioned 
to  go  so  far  as  even  to  beseech  men  to  enter  into  reconcili- 
ation. This  good-will  of  God  in  Christ,  or  more  particu- 
larly, this  mercy  of  God  in  Christ,  or  more  particularly 
still,  this  forgiveness  through  the  blood  which  Christ  shed 
for  us  on  the  cross,  may  be  regarded  as  the  first  article  of 
the  covenant  which  we  call  on  you  to  take  hold  of. 


512 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


The  first  article,  then,  being  a declaration  or  promise  of 
forgiveness  through  Christ  from  the  Lawgiver,  may  be 
viewed  as  a thing  brought  down  to  us  from  heaven,  and 
therefore  as  a thing  on  God’s  part.  The  second  article 
which  we  now  proceed  to  explain,  being  a response  to  this 
declaration  by  those  on  earth  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  may 
be  viewed  more  properly  as  a thing  on  man’s  part.  Say 
that  the  declaration  is  addressed  to  each  of  two  sinners — 
and  we  have  a full  warrant  for  addressing  it  to  all — but  for 
the  present,  let  us  only  view  it  as  addressed  to  two,  and 
that  the  first  of  these  does  not  believe  it — then  his  answer 
to  it  is,  No ; but  that  the  second  of  them  does  believe  it — 
and  then  his  answer  to  it  is,  Ay.  Or  conceive  this  dec- 
laration of  forgiveness  to  be  made  in  the  form  of  an  offer, 
and  in  this  form  too — the  form  of  an  offer  of  forgiveness, 
we  are  fully  warranted  to  make  it  unto  all.  But  say,  for 
the  present,  that  it  is  made  to  two,  and  that  the  first  of 
them,  as  before,  does  not  believe,  then  he  may  well  be  said 
to  refuse  the  offer,  so  that  the  thing  offered  is  not  his ; but 
that  the  second  does  believe  it,  and  then  may  it  as  well  be 
said  of  him  that  he  accepts  the  offer,  and  so  the  thing 
offered  is  his.  Now,  this  is  precisely  the  footing  on  which 
these  first  and  second  articles  stand  to.  each  other  in  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  man  who  believes  not  in 
Christ,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  has  not  the  faith,  has  no 
part  or  interest  either  in  its  offered  forgiveness  or  any  other 
of  its  blessings.  The  man,  again,  who  has  the  faith,  ac- 
cording to  his  faith  so  is  it  done  unto  him.  This  fully  ac- 
cords with  one  and  all  of  the  Scripture  sayings  which  re- 
late to  this  subject:  “Believe  and  ye  shall  be  saved.”  “Ye 
are  saved  by  faith.”  “ God  sent  His  only  begotten  Son 
into  the  world,  that  whosoever  believeth  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life.”  “ Christ  is  a propitiation  through 
faith  in  His  blood.”  “Ye  are  justified  by  faith that  is, 
if  ye  believe  ye  are  dealt  with  as  righteous  persons.  “ The 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  unto  all  and  upon  all  who  be- 
lieve.” It  is  by  faith  that  you  are  said  to  receive  Him. 
The  “ as  many  as  received  Him,”  are  just  the  “ as  many  as 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


513 


believe  in  His  name.”  They  who  have  faith  in  the  atone- 
ment, “ have  received  the  atonement.”  It  is  thus  that  your 
faith  in  Christ  constitutes  your  reception  of  Christ.  Such 
is  the  constitution  of  the  gospel — such  the  nature  of  the 
covenant  which  we  call  upon  you  to  take  hold  of.  And  is 
it  not  a right  constitution  ? Could  there  be  any  settlement 
between  two  parties  among  ourselves,  or  between  man  and 
man,  if  the  one  did  not  believe  what  the  other  said  ? or 
could  man  ever  come  into  agreement  with  God  if  he  did 
not  believe  God  ? Would  God  take  any  man  into  accept- 
ance and  favor  who  so  far  affronted  Him  as  to  make  Him 
a liar?  But  let  me  tell  you  that  God  cannot  lie;  it  is  im- 
possible for  Him  to  lie — so  we  read  in  the  Bible  ; and  let 
me  appeal  to  yourselves,  whether  the  gravity  and  the  sin- 
cerity and  the  deep  sacredness — the  divine  characteristics 
of  this  said  Bible,  be  not  in  themselves  guarantees  that  none 
of  its  sayings  will  deceive  you  ? And  what  possible  inter- 
est can  the  great  God  of  heaven  and  earth  have  in  deceiv- 
ing us?  If  He  were  bent  on  our  destruction,  and  really 
desirous  of  it,  could  not  He  with  all  ease  make  this  out, 
without  disgracing  Himself  by  a lie  upon  the  subject.  But 
no ; He  does  not  want  to  destroy,  but  to  save  you.  He  is 
at  this  moment  longing  after  your  return  to  friendship  with 
Himself,  and  this  with  all  the  tenderness  of  a parent  be- 
reaved of  His  children.  He  tells  you  so  expressly  in  many, 
very  many  of  His  sayings  ; and,  indeed,  it  is  the  substance 
of  these  sayings  which  forms  what  I have  called  the  first 
article  of  the  gospel  covenant  between  man  and  God,  even 
that  God  makes  willing  offer  of  acceptance  to  you  ; and  the 
second  article  is,  that  you  should  give  God  credit  for  this. 
Only  believe  in  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  that  God  makes 
a free  offer  of  forgiveness  to  you  through  the  blood  of  His 
own  Son  ; and  how  indeed  can  any  tidings,  however  good, 
make  you  glad  and  joyful  unless  you  believe  in  them  ? Re- 
ceive the  peace-speaking  message  of  the  New  Testament  as 
a true  message  ; for  it  is  only  on  your  holding  it  to  be  true 
that  it  can  bring  any  peace  to  your  bosoms — it  is  only  when 
justified  by  faith  that  you  have  peace  with  God  through 


514 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  God  hath  laid  a glorious  foundation 
for  His  covenant  to  begin  with.  What  He  wants  you  now 
to  do  is  to  place  your  confidence  on  this  foundation,  yes,  and 
to  hold  it  fast — holding  fast  your  confidence  and  the  re- 
joicing of  your  hope  firm  unto  the  end.  It  is  indeed  a love- 
inspiring  doctrine,  that  God  hath  sent  His  Son  into  the  world 
to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins  ; but  it  is  a doctrine  which 
can  no  more  inspire  love  than  any  other,  without  faith  in 
the  doctrine  ; for  it  is  faith  that  worketh  by  love ; and  it  is 
only  when  you  know  and  believe  the  love  which  God  hath 
to  you,  that  you  love  Him  back  again.  We  love  God,  says 
the  apostle,  because  He  first  loved  us.  Set  your  hand, 
then,  to  this  second  article  of  the  covenant — subscribe  to 
the  faithfulness  of  God — put  your  seal  to  God  being  true — 
count  Him  faithful  who  hath  promised,  and  be  persuaded 
that  what  He  hath  promised  He  is  both  able  and  willing  to 
perform. 

So  much  for  our  second  article,  which  lies,  you  will  per 
ceive,  on  man’s  side  of  the  covenant.  The  third  article  lies 
upon  man’s  side  of  the  covenant  too.  The  second — that 
we  have  been  just  treating  of — relates  to  man’s  faith.  The 
third,  on  which  we  are  now  to  offer  a very  few  observa- 
tions, relates  to  man’s  obedience — the  new  obedience  of  the 
gospel,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  to  man’s  service — not 
service  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter,  but  service  in  the  new- 
ness of  the  spirit.  It  is  in  conformity  to  our  second  article 
that  man  believes.  It  is  in  conformity  to  our  third  article 
that  man  obeys.  That  both  are  required  and  both  are  in- 
dispensable, is  obvious  from  the  whole  tenor  of  Scripture ; 
and,  indeed,  both  are  often  comprehended  in  one  sentence, 
sometimes  in  one  clause  of  a sentence,  as  making  up  the 
substance  of  Christianity.  Our  Saviour  at  the  outset  of  His 
ministry  made  proclamation  to  “ repent  and  believe  the 
gospel.”  Paul  states  the  subject-matter  of  his  preaching  to 
lie  in  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  God,  in  making  an  overture  of  reconciliation,  says 
— “Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous 
man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  God,  and  He  will 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


515 


have  mercy  upon  him,  and  to  his  God,  and  He  will  abund- 
antly pardon  him.”  Faith  and  obedience,  my  brethren,  go 
together — the  one  forms  part  and  parcel  of  the  covenant  as 
much  as  the  other  does : you  must  yield  yourselves  up  unto 
God,  “ Teaching  all  men  everywhere,”  says  Paul,  “ to  re- 
pent and  turn  unto  God,  and  to  do  works  meet  for  repent- 
ance.” The  religion  to  which  we  call  you  is  something 
more  than  the  commencement  of  a new  hope  : it  is  the  com- 
mencement of  a new  life — you  cease  to  do  evil,  you  learn 
to  do  well ; you,  in  fact,  if  it  be  a real  work  of  conversion, 
an  actual  taking  hold  of  the  true  gospel  covenant — you  will 
make  a full  dedication  of  yourselves  unto  God  ; you  cease 
to  be  the  servants  of  sin,  and  become  the  servants  of  right- 
eousness, or  which  is  the  same  thing,  the  servants  of  that 
God  who  loveth  righteousness  and  hateth  iniquity.  Be  not 
deceived  then.  He  who  subscribes  to  the  covenant,  sub- 
scribes it  in  all  its  articles — yes,  and  to  have  the  benefits  of 
the  covenant,  there  must  be  an  honest  and  habitual  effort 
to  fulfill  all  its  articles.  In  the  language  of  our  Shorter 
Catechism,  " He  turns  unto  God  with  full  purpose  of,  and 
endeavor  after  the  new  obedience  of  the  gospel.” 

But  does  not  this,  it  may  be  thought,  just  place  the  sin- 
ner where  he  was  again,  and  bring  him  back  to  the  old 
covenant  of  works  ? He  fell  from  the  old  obedience  of  the 
former  dispensation,  and  where  is  the  security  that  he  will 
not  fall  from  the  new  obedience  which  is  laid  upon  him  by 
the  present  dispensation  ? We  were  told,  while  under  the 
economy  of  the  law,  to  do  this  and  live ; and  still  we  are 
told  under  the  economy  of  the  gospel,  that  unless  we  do 
such  and  such  things,  we  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Where,  then,  is  the  difference  between  these  ? and 
what  the  security  that  in  like  manner,  as  under  the  cove- 
nant of  works  Adam  fell,  so  under  the  covenant  of  grace 
every  one  who  enters,  or  takes  hold  of  it  may  not  fall  away  ? 

This  brings  us  to  the  statement  and  explanation  of  our 
last  article  in  the  covenant  which  we  have  been  calling  on 
you  to  take  hold  of.  There  is  something  in  its  very  title 
which  explains  the  difficulty,  and  we  trust  will  remove  it 


516 


THE  AETICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


from  your  minds  altogether.  Remember  that  it  is  called 
the  covenant  of  grace  ; you  may  very  well  see  how  it  should 
be  so  styled,  from  its  first  article,  in  which  the  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious,  holds  out  the  offer  of  a free  pardon 
through  Christ,  to  one  and  all  of  us  ; and  you  may  as  read- 
ily see  how  it  preserves  this  character  in  its  second  article, 
in  the  fulfillment  of  which  all  that  man  does  is  to  give  God 
credit  for  His  offer,  to  take  Him  at  His  word,  to  do  Him 
the  same  homage  that  we  render  to  every  honest  acquaint- 
ance whom  we  have  in  this  world — that  is,  that  when  He 
speaks  we  should  believe  Him.  And  accordingly  it  is  said 
of  salvation,  that  for  this  very  purpose  it  is  of  faith,  even 
that  it  might  be  by  grace.  But  then  the  third  article,  the 
obedience  part  of  the  new  covenant,  the  works  of  the  law 
demanded  as  before,  does  not  this  throw  it  all  back  again, 
and  bring  us  just  where  we  were  ? No,  my  brethren,  hear 
our  fourth  article,  and  you  will  find  that  it  is  not  as  before 
— for  that  the  glorious  covenant  to  which  I would  have  you 
all  to  join  yourselves,  as  it  begins  with  grace,  so  it  ends 
with  grace,  as  it  begins  on  the  side  of  God,  who  binds  Him- 
self in  the  first  article  to  bestow  pardon  on  all  who  ask  it, 
so  it  is  completed  on  the  side  of  God,  who,  by  what  we 
shall  call  our  fourth  article,  binds  Himself  also  to  bestow 
the  Holy  Spirit  on  all  who  ask  it.  From  first  to  last,  it  is 
altogether  of  grace.  From  the  commencement  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus,  grace  has  to  do  with 
it.  It  is  grace  which  lays  the  foundation,  and  it  is  grace 
also  which  raises  the  superstructure,  till,  in  the  language  of 
the  prophet,  the  headstone  thereof  is  brought  full  with 
shoutings,  and  we  cry,  Grace,  grace  unto  it. 

By  the  third  article,  which  requires  our  obedience,  it  may 
be  thought  or  feared  that  the  covenant  had  fallen  from  grace 
and  so  it  would,  were  it  not  that  the  fourth  article  brought 
it  up  again.  True  it  is  that  by  the  one  article  man  stands 
engaged  to  the  work  of  obedience ; but  it  is  just  as  true 
that  by  the  other  article  God  stands  engaged  to  make  us 
both  willing  and  able  for  the  work.  He  works  in  us,  and 
so  as  to  set  us  working : He  both  makes  us  like  the  work, 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


517 


and  makes  us  strong  for  the  performance  of  it:  He  so 
changes  our  whole  nature — gives  so  different  a taste  and 
such  different  affections  to  our  inner  man,  that  what  was  be- 
fore our  dislike  and  our  drudgery  becomes  our  delight ; and 
it  is  now  our  meat  and  our  drink,  as  of  our  Saviour  before 
us,  to  do  the  will  of  God.  He  sheds  abroad  in  our  hearts 
the  love  of  Himself  by  the  Holy  Ghost ; and  they  who  love 
God  love  His  law.  “ Oh,  how  love  I Thy  law,”  says  the 
Psalmist,  **  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day.”  It  is  not  the 
same  as  before.  It  is  not  the  same  with  the  new  as  it  was 
with  the  old  covenant — with  the  covenant  of  grace  as  with 
the  covenant  of  works.  Under  the  one,  the  lavrwas  given 
on  tables  of  stone — and  the  whole  bent  of  our  inclinations 
was  against  it,  so  as  to  make  it  a hard  and  a heartless  serv- 
ice ; under  the  other,  the  law  is  graven  upon  the  fleshly 
tablets  of  our  hearts,  and  our  affections  are  enlisted  on  the 
side  of  the  new  obedience  of  the  gospel.  If  by  the  first 
article  God  binds  Himself  by  promise  to  forgive  you,  by 
the  fourth  article  He  as  much  binds  Himself  by  promise 
to  sanctify  you — to  uphold  all  your  goings,  and  carry  you 
forward  from  strength  to  strength  in  the  way  of  His  com- 
mandments. It  is  your  part  of  the  covenant  that  hence- 
forward you  shall  obey,  but  it  is  as  much  God’s  part  of  the 
covenant  that  He  shall  enable  you  to  obey, — and  one  of 
the  most  glorious  testimonies  to  this  effect  in  the  whole  of 
Scripture,  given  first  in  the  Old  Testament  and  repeated 
afterwards  by  quotation  in  the  New,  first  by  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  and  afterwards  by  the  apostle  Paul — a most  glo- 
rious testimony,  and  delivered,  too,  in  the  terms  of  a cove- 
nant, is  the  foilowing — “ Behold,  the  ddys  come,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  I will  make  a new  covenant,  and  this  shall  be 
the  covenant,  that  I will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts 
and  write  it  in  their  hearts,  and  will  be  their  God,  and  they 
shall  be  my  people ; and  I will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I 
will  remember  their  sin  no  more.”  Be  not  afraid,  then,  to 
engage  in  the  service — He  stands  engaged  to  strengthen 
you  for  the  service.  Be  not  afraid  to  vow  unto  the  Lord, 
He  will  enable  you  to  pay  your  vows.  Is  it  your  heart’s 


518  % THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

wish  to  be  good  ? — it  is  as  much  His  wish  to  make  you 
good.  Enter  into  His  covenant ; take  a fast  and  firm  hold, 
and  He  will  neither  be  wanting  on  His  part,  nor  will  He 
leave  or  let  you  to  fall  away  from  yours,  and  so  you  will 
be  washed  and  sanctified  and  justified  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  your  God. 


/ 


END  OF  VOLUME  SIXTH. 


